India Inc Expects More Reforms from Modi Government: Assocham

New Delhi: As the Modi government completes one year in office, India Inc expects major initiatives in the next two quarters along with forward movement in key sectors like road, power, coal, non-renewable energy, mainly led by public sector investment, industry body Assocham said on Sunday.

Some major measures are also expected in the agriculture sector which needs huge public investment in areas like irrigation, rural infrastructure and power supply.

Besides, the government is likely to continue with support in inputs such as fertilisers, the survey said.

"Having taken several initiatives to unclog infrastructure projects and improve ease of doing business, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government is expected to give increased attention to the rural economy, although several of the financial inclusion programmes like the Jan Dhan Yojana would help the countryside," Assocham president Rana Kapoor said.

He pointed out that there are select sectors of the economy which are under stress, including housing, real estate, banking and telecom.

Of late, the merchandise exports are also causing some anxiety with slowdown in global demand.

"But some of the innovative initiatives like monetisation of gold would bring in much-needed stability in the country's balance of payment by way of reduction in gold imports.

"Besides, there are hopes that the GST Bill would finally move towards a law," Mr Kapoor said.

He also welcomed the formation of an expert committee on resolving taxation issues like Minimum Alternate Tax for the foreign institutional investors.

According to the chamber's assessment, for kick-starting the economic growth, domestic consumer demand has to be revived with improving the sentiment on employment opportunities.

"Consumer demand and the employment prospects are closely connected. Sectors like tourism, aviation are some of the low hanging fruits, which must be ripened and plucked. They will create huge employment opportunities along with creating an uptick for sectors such as construction and real estate," it said.

A holistic view must be taken about the stressed assets in banks so that we are not left with large and uncontrolled non-performing assets, it added.