Confederation president urges ‘efficient animal welfare with proper policies to control inflation’
Confederation president urges ‘efficient animal welfare with proper policies to control inflation’
The government should consider offering some relief to Indian consumers by lowering excise taxes on petroleum products if global crude prices remain above $100 a barrel, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) President TV Narendran said on Monday .
Mr Narendran suggested a mix of “effective animal welfare with appropriate policies to control inflation”, noting the importance of maintaining consumption. “While most sectors have recovered to pre-pandemic activity levels, the recovery in consumption has been somewhat fragile and demand is now beginning to strengthen,” he said in an interview.
“If oil prices stay around $100, then if there’s something you can do in terms of excise taxes etc. to ease the pressure on the common man… that’s something that needs to be considered, along with.” checking if there is some room between refineries margin and retail margins,” he suggested.
The CII is also considering simplifying the Goods and Services Tax (GST) system with lower rates and removing anomalies in norms related to Taxes Withheld at Source (TDS) and Taxes Withheld at Source (TCS) to balance the economy of the increase fuel uncertainty from the conflict in Europe and rising input costs.
Mr Narendran expressed optimism about the prospect of the central bank raising interest rates, stressing that it is “unfair” for the industry to expect an accommodative stance when inflationary pressures are high. “To be fair to the RBI, they have been very cautious so far and too much inflation is not good for economic activity either,” he said, adding that the government must maintain its focus on infrastructure spending as this will prop up a lot of sectors .
