By IANS,
Bangalore : The government should maintain the Central Value Added Tax (Cenvat) rate at eight percent that was part of the financial stimulus measures, Godrej group chairman Adi Godrej said Friday.
“The Cenvat rate was reduced by two percent to eight percent from 10 percent. It is important that the finance minister does not raise it in the ensuing budget as we will be shifting to the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime soon,” Godrej told reporters here.
Opposing the reported withdrawal of the stimulus package announced in December 2008 and February 2009 to protect the Indian economy from the onslaught of the global meltdown, Godrej said the proposed GST regime was meant to ease the inflationary pressures, as consumer prices would decline due to rationalisation of taxes across the chain.
“Tax collections will increase under the GST regime through volume growth as excise duty will be abolished. I hope the finance minister will announce the early implementation of the GST regime in the budget proposals for next fiscal (2010-11),” Godrej said on the margins of a Brand Summit 2010.