Bring petroleum products, realty, and electricity under GST: CII President
The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) president Sanjiv Puri on Thursday said petroleum products, electricity, and real estate must be brought under the ambit of the goods and services tax (GST), and asserted that capital gains tax must also be rationalised, as part of the industry body's 14-point agenda for the new government.
"On direct taxes, the government may consider laying down a road map for rationalising and simplifying the capital gains tax and TDS provisions," Puri said while addressing the press for the first time after taking over as the CII president last month.
He added that on the back of a strong recovery in agriculture and healthy public investment, India's gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to grow at 8 per cent in FY25.
Puri explained that the agriculture sector is expected to grow at 3.7 per cent, compared to 1.4 per cent last year. "We are already seeing that monsoon is going to be better. So, agricultural production will be better," he said.
In the manufacturing sector, the growth is likely to slow down from 9.3 per cent in FY24 to 8.4 per cent in FY25, due to a high base effect. "If we can consistently grow at that rate, it will be a strong achievement,” he explained.
