Recommendations to raise tax holiday sent to Fin Min: Minister

Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today said her Ministry has recommended the Ministry of Finance to raise tax holiday for start-ups from three years to seven with a sense of constructive and positive approach, and was awaiting a response. "They (Finance Ministry) have received the recommendations of Commerce and Industry Ministry to raise tax holiday to seven years from the current three years with sense of constructive and positive approach. That's where it is. We certainly like to hear from them," Sitharaman told PTI here after addressing the Karnataka BJP Women's Executive Meeting here. On May 30, Sitharaman had said lots of recommendations were made to the Finance Ministry for extending the three-year tax holiday to seven, after several startups pitched for increasing the same, as it would provide certainty on taxation matter. Replying to a query on Apple setting up a manufacturing unit in India, Sitharaman said, there is no proposal as yet with the Centre from Apple to set up a manufacturing unit in the country. "They have not approached us and therefore we are silent," she said. Apple have reportedly been in talks with Foxconn on the possibility of manufacturing iPhone models at their facilities in India. After meeting senior officials from manufacturing giant Foxconn, partner of Apple, the then Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad in May had said the Cupertino-based technology major was coming to manufacture iPhones in India. Apple has been lobbying hard for exemption from the mandatory 30 per cent local sourcing on the ground that its products have such high-end technology that these cannot be sourced locally here. The government in June relaxed FDI norms by giving a three-year exemption from local sourcing to foreign players in single-brand retail and a further five-year relaxation for 'state-of-the-art' and 'cutting-edge' technology. Asked about a letter written to Xiaomi, Chinese mobile phone maker, seeking waiver of 30 per cent sourcing norms, Sitharaman said, "I have no idea. If there is something I will let know." She also denied having any information on 'LeEco's' request to waive 30 per cent sourcing norms.