Government committed to policy certainty, says Nirmala Sitharaman
Aug 24, 2021
Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], August 24 : The Government is committed to working towards ensuring policy certainty, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Tuesday.
She was interacting with industry captains at a Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) interaction held here.
The regulators also had a key role in ensuring the same and the Government is working with them as well on this important issue, she added.
Expressing the government's keenness to facilitate trends and sectors that are the future of the Indian economy, the Finance Minister acknowledged that there are seminal changes happening in the financial sector, which the government policy should facilitate.
The economy is moving gradually from a bank-led lending model to a more market-based finance model. Also once the Development Finance Institution is operational, it will perform the function of long-term lending which traditionally has been done by banks.
This would increase competition for the banks and also improve their efficiency, she added.
The Finance Minister emphasised the importance of government and industry working together to 'create India's own equity capital'.
The minister also emphasised the need of identifying how the sunrise sectors and start-ups can contribute to the future of India and how the government could facilitate them.
According to an official release, the Finance Minister said that the government believes in listening, working and responding and would extend all possible support.
Praising the risk-taking ability of the start-ups, she urged the industry to also come forward and take risks and assured industry captains about addressing issues related to competitiveness including high power tariffs, and the issues related to cumbersome regulatory compliances.
Dr TV Somanathan, Finance Secretary and Secretary Expenditure, in his remarks, emphasised that the government trusts wealth creators.
Responding to suggestions from the industry, Dr Somanathan, shared that the government is exploring instituting insurance bonds as alternatives to bank guarantees.
On the issue of arbitration awards being typically appealed, Somanathan said that a behavioural change is required. On increasing the pace of vaccination, Somanathan said that the government has been very aggressive in procurement, even relaxing procurement guidelines. The constraint was on the supply side which is likely to be addressed soon, as new vaccines become available.
Revenue Secretary Tarun Bajaj said that the Department of Revenue was working on the tax related issues of start-ups and sought industry inputs on the same.
