Be responsible to society and don’t ask for exemptions – FM
Finance Minister P. Chidambaram yesterday reminded India Inc of its responsibility towards society and asked it to give less priority to seeking fiscal exemptions. He saidcorporate India needs to address the glaring concerns of society such as no access to water, community toilets, electricity, sanitation, education and health. He emphasised that growth of agriculture would not only be beneficial in sustaining the country's booming growth, but would also have a positive impact on the corporate turnover.
“I have yet to hear the corporate world better render their corporate social responsibility towards those whose lot continues to suffer and it is in view of this, the budget for 2007-08 has given much higher allocations to agriculture, education, health etc,' Chidambaram said in a meeting organised by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Assocham).
The FM said that the main challenge facing India today was that its growth was not all-inclusive and the vulnerable section of society was not able to reap benefits of an economy that was growing at almost nine percent.
He reiterated that issues such as fringe benefit tax (FBT), dividend distribution tax (DDT), service tax, double taxation could be addressed between finance ministry officials and representatives of the industry.
'There is no country and institutions of excellence, be it the US, UK, EU, IMF, Asian Development Bank which has not reserved a table for India in view of its growing economic strength in the world and therefore India's growth prospects look even bullish and brighter but we have to share it with the poor and poorer to integrate them with the mainstream,' he added.