Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman last week said that the Centre seeks to create a 'budget as never before' and help India emerge as the engine for global growth and economic resurgence. Speaking in an industry event, she added that 'Lives', 'Livelihood' and 'Growth' are the three key words which have engaged the attention of policy planners across the world and future policies would need to address the right engines of growth.

Meanwhile, ahead of the Budget, exporters have raised a number of demands. The COVID-19 pandemic has created significant stress on the sector and considering this it now wants enough budget allocation to the Department of Commerce to support the sector. The exports sector has long been struggling and its contribution to GDP has declined in last few years. So, now is the right time to strain every nerve to push the sector's growth if we want India's GDP to grow at 8 percent or beyond.

Lack of adequate credit is another lingering challenge facing the sector. The Covid-19 pandemic has aggravated the banking crisis, with the sector's NPAs piling up to Rs 9.4 lakh crore as of June 2019, according to reports. In this situation, small and medium exporters are bearing the brunt of the crisis, and according to a leading exporters' body, as a relief measure the Government may now roll out the NIRVIK Scheme which was announced in September 2019 but has remained un-operational so far.

In terms of income tax, exporters are of the view that tax deduction not only on R&D but also on product development may be given under Section 35(2AB) of Income Tax Act. Also, corporate tax reduction can be extended to non-corporate MSMEs which are subject to higher taxation of 35 percent. Additionally, exporters demand introduction of a 'Double Tax Deduction Scheme for Internationalization' and also a dispute resolution scheme to resolve all disputes relating to Customs and DGFT.

I invite your opinions.