Ajit Ranade: An overdue pivot to human capital and employment
₹1 crore. But exemptions must go. A new comprehensive economic framework for next-gen reforms is on its way, Sitharaman said.
This new framework must place India in an advantageous position to exploit global value chains. Hence, the trend should be towards lowering import duties across the board. The import duty on gold was cut from 15% to 6% because a lot of duty leakage was happening via the route of duty-free imports from the UAE into GIFT city.
Besides, high duties on precious metals are eventually counter-productive, since they invite smuggling. It was also good to hear about future- looking initiatives such as the promotion of private public partnerships in the field of small modular nuclear reactors and in the space economy. It’s also good that a realistic assessment has been made of India’s difficult transition away from fossil fuels.
Higher taxes on capital gains might be temporary spoilers for the stock market. But India’s macro performance stands out in the world for its resilience and high growth, with moderate inflation. Now with policies to incentivize job creation and skilling, along with fiscal consolidation, there is no reason why high economic growth cannot be sustained.
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