LOWER CONSUMER SPENDING
It is not just residents like Brahmadutt who are looking for tax incentives.
Many small- and medium-sized businesses are also hoping the government will reconsider the GST.
They said high taxes are being passed on to consumers, which in turn, is leading to lower consumer spending.
India’s consumer spending last year grew by 3.5 per cent from 2023, according to government data.
It marked the slowest rate of increase since 2021, when spending was up more than 18 per cent, according to World Bank figures.
Among the business owners looking for some relief is Pradeep Bhomara.
Profit margins at his floor tile and sanitary ware store Shri Devnarayan Tiles are down by 15 per cent, he said.
Bhomarat wants the government to reduce GST rates from 18 to 15 per cent on non-luxury goods, and from 28 to 20 per cent on luxury goods. He said this will allow him to offer more attractive prices.
Easier access to funding would also go a long way, he added.
“Getting easier business loans is necessary. The paperwork needs to be reduced so that it’s easier for a lay person to access better funding,” he said.
“The kind of support that small businesses need is absent today. But if you look at big businesses, they get a lot more support from the government which allows them to expand their business.”
GOVERNMENT HELP
Wishes from the business community are on top of the help the Indian government announced in its interim budget on Feb 1 last year.
India’s finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a slew of new measures, including government funding and technology support for micro, medium and small businesses.
However, many traders and retailers said those measures mainly helped the manufacturing sector.
Experts believe that the upcoming annual budget can better support small businesses and India’s stressed middle class by investing more in infrastructure.
“If you make roads and corridors, logistics cost comes down (and) efficiency of the supply chain goes up,” said Feroze Azeez, deputy CEO at Anand Rathi Wealth Limited.
This would promote growth while reducing inflation, he pointed out.
“That’s what the government is doing. So I would want them to continue the thrust on infrastructure,” he said.
