Budget 2012-13: No short term punch to get growth going, says TCS CEO

By N Chandrasekaran

Given the economic and political circumstances, the Finance Minister has presented a pragmatic Budget with doses of good intentions for long-term growth but lacked short term punch to get growth going. For the IT industry, the request to exempt SEZ (special economic zone) income from MAT (Minimum Alternate Tax) has not been granted and this is disappointing. The focus on R&D is good as the weighted deduction of 200% for R&D expenditure in an in-house facility has been extended beyond March 31, 2012 for a further period of five years. There is no date or schedule for DTC (Direct Tax Code) implementation and GST, but the Government is committed to bring these in near future. For the IT industry the APA will be useful to ease transfer pricing litigation. The writer is CEO & MD Tata Consultancy Services