CII prez urges India Inc to invest

CII president Shobana Kamineni on Sunday asked leaders of the industry that it is time for industry to start investing given the improvement in domestic and global GDP.

“It is time for industry to take the risk and build new capacity,” she said at the annual jamboree of India Inc at the CII Annual Session 2018.

She also urged overseas companies to invest in the huge present and future opportunity of India.

She asked companies to do business ethically and transparently. “We cannot have scams. Doing business responsibly is critical to the success of industry,” she said.

CII president said that the Indian industry’s R& D spending is too low at 0.3 per cent of GDP and companies must set aside a proportion of profits to invest in innovation.

She urged the government for widening of tax base through lowering of corporate income tax, better allocation of resources and right pricing, and deregulation of labour laws. “We value the assurance of a red carpet but cannot live under fear that it can be pulled out from us at any moment,” she emphasised.

Meanwhile, DIPP secretary, Ramesh Abhishek, said that that several initiatives have been done by the Central and state governments to facilitate ease of doing business.

Recently, 14,000 reforms have been done by all the states combined to ensure procedures are streamlined, said Mr Abhishek.