NEW DELHI, Nov 18: Along with the government reaching out to the Opposition parties to seek their support in Parliament, industry body Assocham has also appealed to them for backing up the reforms measures to revive the economic growth.
Days before the start of the winter session of Parliament, chamber President Rajkumar N Dhoot said, “several of the initiatives announced in the recent few weeks like raising FDI in the insurance sector and reforming the pension sector would need bi-partisan support”.
He said the winter session should be fully utilised in debating the crucial legislative and non-legislative issues threadbare.
“Let the debates lead finally passages of the vital Bills which have a huge implications for the real economy,” he added.
A number of economic bills are expected to come up for approval of Parliament. These include raising foreign direct investment (FDI) ceiling in the insurance sector to 49 per cent from 26 per cent and the pension reforms.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram has said that the government would be reaching out to different political parties seeking bi-partisan support for uplift of the economy which is facing challenging times.
The chamber said that the Indian industry is looking up to the country’s political leadership to help steer the economy out of the present problems.
Some of the important bills like the Goods and Services Tax are the Constitution Amendment Bills that would require an overwhelming support in Parliament for passage.
The winter session of Parliament is scheduled to start from November 22.
Assocham said that though the FDI in retail does not need any legislative approval, the measure would remain on paper if it does not enjoy a wider political support.
“Different political parties ruling in different states need to come on board to facilitate entry of global chains which will integrate India’s unorganised supply chain into modern distribution network and cut wastages worth billions of dollars,” it said.
Further, Dhoot said that given the precarious state of global economy, even 5-6 per cent growth cannot be taken for granted.
“The global environment is quite negative the entire Euro zone has slipped into recession again and the impact would be seen directly on India’s exports to European Union, the country’s biggest export destination,” he said in a statement.
He said that the major bills such as the Direct Tax Code and the GST have the potential to boost the investor confidence and revive the appetite from global investors into India. (PTI)
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