SME Times News Bureau | 22 Nov, 2019
Commenting on the series of announcements made by
the government following the cabinet meeting recently, industry body FICCI
President Sandip Somany welcomed the moves.
"It is encouraging to see the government take
further steps to push the reforms agenda as well as address some of the
critical pain points of industry. The decision to undertake strategic
disinvestment and transfer management control in entities like Shipping
Corporation of India, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited and Container
Corporation of India are welcome. "
This would strengthen the performance of these
companies and bring in fresh investments for both modernisation and expansion,
he added.
"The decision to give greater operational
authority to the board of NHAI and enabling it to securitise user fee receipts
for raising long-term funds from banks is another major positive. The roads and
highways sector will get a further fillip through this move and given its
multiplier impact, we hope to see other related sectors also witnessing
improvement in their performance," added Somany.
"The decision to set up a unified regulatory
body to supervise the activities of financial services providers in the
International Financial Services Centre will add to the ease of doing business
for firms that set up a base in IFSC and FICCI welcomes this single window
facilitation," he said.
"Another notable decision of the government is
the relief provided to the telecom sector by way of deferment of receipt of
spectrum auction instalments due from telecom service providers for the year
2020-21 and 2021-22. This move should provide some headroom to the telecom
sector in the country as it is seeing a lot of stress. We must ensure the
viability of the sector and FICCI hopes that this is the first step in that
direction with more support in the offing from the government," added Somany.
"Finally, on the labour code, we have noted
the approval accorded by the government to the Industrial Relations Code. This
forward movement is noteworthy and we hope that with this move we have moved
further ahead on having in place balanced labour regulations in the country
that take account of the interest of both the employers and the
employees," said Somany.