Countdown to Budget: What top investors told PM Modi

In mid-December, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met leading private equity and venture capital investors to seek suggestions on reforms required to make India a more attractive investment destination.

 The PM sought inputs from investors on how to make the business process easier, attract more capital, and further the reform process, the Press Trust of India reported.

The meeting came ahead of Budget 2022. Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman is due to present the next budget on  February 1 for the fiscal year that starts on April 1.

Around the same time in December, Sitharaman chaired a pre-budget consultation with stakeholders from various sectors in the national capital.

In the meeting, she sought inputs from industry bodies, farmers’ organisations, economists, and services sector  experts on ways to revive consumption and growth, hit by the ongoing coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

To prop up an economy hit hard by the pandemic, Indian companies pitched for the continuation of reforms and tax and policy stability in the coming Budget.

According to industry chambers, government measures will help firmly anchor the early signs of private investment recovery.

In the meantime, the government should continue to invest in infrastructure and support growth, Confederation of Indian Industry president TV Narendran said.

"Infrastructure sector with a multiplier impact on rest of the economy requires interventions especially to improve and diversify sources of financing. In this context, it is suggested that government should consider developing the municipal bond market so that urban local bodies can raise funds for investing in infrastructure," he said.

The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) suggested extending a scheme called Vivad Se Vishwas to highly regulated sectors like telecom, power and mining, and establishing a dispute resolution system for issues related to customs.

The scheme is aimed at reducing legal disputes in direct taxation. It provides individuals a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to settle direct tax litigation pending in the courts without paying any interest or penalty.

"We appreciate the government for the Vivaad se Vishwas scheme which has gone a long way in reducing the long pending litigations and resulted in greater success. Several infrastructure and service sectors such as telecom, power, mining etc, which were privatised to drive investment and growth are highly regulated/licensed," Assocham president Vineet Agarwal said.