As the economy reels under a slowdown, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has sought to assuage India Inc’s concerns by offering a major relief from onerous CSR requirements recently imposed on the industry under the revised norms, according to industrialist Sajjan Jindal. Nirmala Sitharaman, and minister of state for finance Anurag Thakur, in a meeting with industrialists today said that there will be no penalty imposed on the companies for failing to meet the revised CSR norms announced recently, Sajjan Jindal said to reporters after the meeting. Further, the government is also likely to take steps to revive the industry, Sajjan Jindal, Chairman, JSW Group, added.
In the meeting, issues related to non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) and finance sectors were also discussed. However, tax issues related to FPI were not discussed in the meeting today, said Ajay Piramal, Chairman, Piramal Group. In other major issues, the Finance Minister also discussed the steel sector, as it touches all the other major segments, said TV Narendran, Managing Director, Tata Steel to CNBC. Issues related to liquidity, accelerating infra expenditure and small and medium enterprises were also important areas where the government had discussions with the industrialists, he added. Yesterday, Nirmala Sitharaman and Anurag Thakur chaired a meeting with the representatives of the automobile sector.
Slowdown in economy
Indian economy is undergoing a slowdown caused by both global and domestic reasons. In a press conference held after the bi-monthly monetary policy meeting yesterday, the RBI governor Shaktikanta Das said that the global environment is hostile by elevated trade tensions and geopolitical uncertainty. Global low demand condition has pulled down crude oil prices and on the other side, the gold price has risen due to instability in the overall market. Easing the monetary policy by central banks across the globe have also added to India’s worry.
Even within the domestic market, the RBI has underlined the ongoing slowdown. “There is a demand and investment slowdown, both put together are having a dampening effect on the growth,” said Shaktikanta Das.