LG India Marketing Head on what the sector wants from Budget 2016

The Indian economy has emerged as one of the fastest growing economies in the world and to sustain this momentum going forward, there are slew of economic reforms required. The need of the hour is to strengthen the image of Brand India and establish the country as an investor friendly destination.

In the forthcoming Budget, the Government should introduce policies that encourage local manufacturing of durables which in turn, will increase the penetration of consumer durables in India.

· Make-in-India must be incentivized for Indian products to be competitive in the global markets and this must be supported by the development of world class infrastructure specially ports, railways, roads, and warehouses.

· Strong agricultural reforms are required to turn around rural economies thereby boosting rural demand.

· Tax reforms implementation should include a fast roll out of GST so as to have an equitable tax system and a unified market which, in turn, can improve efficiency and competitiveness.

· Excise duty should be brought down from 12% to 10% to help reinstate demand and growth.

· With reference to corporate tax, in the last budget the Finance Minister had proposed the reduction in corporate tax rate from 30% to 25% in four years; in Budget 2016 we expect a reduction in corporate tax rate as well as the future roadmap.

· Relaxation in personal income tax slabs will certainly increase disposable income which, we are optimistic, will spur a segment of people to spend on upgrading their consumer durables.

Overall, 2016 looks positive and as an industry, we want to see India positioned as one of the leading global players in the consumer durable industry.

(This article is authored by Niladri Datta, Head of Corporate Marketing at LG India)

(Image: Indiatimes)