Budget 2013: Remove bottlenecks that hinder investments in infrastructure, says V Raman Kumar, Aeries Group

NEW DELHI: Emphasising the need for better and timely utilization of planned spending, V Raman Kumar, Chairman, Aeries Group said that budget 2013 should avoid lapse of allocated funds, especially for social sector programmes.

"For improvement in infrastructure, concrete steps are required to remove the bottlenecks that hinder investments. Exports must be further enhanced by way of direct and indirect tax benefits," said Kumar.

Kumar also opined that the budget should focus on restructuring the financial health of state electricity boards and power distribution companies. While acknowledging that allowing FDI in the retail sector was a major measure last year, Kumar said that it should be followed by relaxation in the foreign direct investment caps in aviation, defence, media, banking and insurance.

"The External Commercial Borrowings (ECB) guidelines must also be relaxed to allow sector agnostic borrowing for CAPEX and working capital purposes. Boosting the investment climate is essential and this can be better achieved with an assurance on stability of tax regime for better tax planning," he said.

"Taxability of transactions involving transfers of underlying Indian assets between Non-Residents has to become clear. Moreover, any tax decisions should not apply on a retrospective basis. An indirect tax regime with implementation of GST with clear timelines for completion of transition by the states is also eagerly awaited in this Budget," he added.