Assocham chief Rajkumar Dhoot meets Montek Singh Ahluwalia, wants GAAR put in cold storage

NEW DELHI: Concerned over sluggish growth and poor investment climate, Assocham President Rajkumar Dhoot today met Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia and demanded the controversial tax proposal GAAR be put in "cold storage".

In his 30-minute meeting with Ahluwalia, Dhoot raised issues like delay in GST, the introduction of General Anti-Avoidance Rules (GAAR), high interest rates and financial problems of the SME sector.

"To boost the economy, GAAR which has been doing the rounds for the last few months and has investors worried, should be immediately put in cold storage.

"Secondly, pending projects like Mumbai-Delhi industrial corridor should be immediately given green signal, so that investments start flowing in and boost is given to the economy," Dhoot told reporters after meeting Ahluwalia.

Several other industralists like Mukesh and Anil Ambani, G P Goenka (from Kolkata-based Duncan Group), Vodafone India Chairman Analjit Singh and Chairman of UB Group Vijay Mallya have also met Ahluwalia in recent days.

Following the exit of Pranab Mukherjee, who is contesting Presidential election, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has taken charge of the finance portfolio.

Ahluwalia, who had played a key role in the economic reforms initiated by Singh in 1991, is considered close to the Prime Minister.