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The IT industry of
India
is in a doldrums phase. Hence, to boost the IT hardware
industry,
the apex body representing India's IT hardware industry, has
penned down 7 key pre-budget recommendations and submitted to
the
National Manufacturing Council and Ministry of Finance for the
Union
Budget, which is to be announced on March 16, 2012.
Broadly, the
association
is asking for the removal of minimum alternate tax and abolition
of
4% special additional duty (SAD) to boost the PC industry, which
is
facing declining sales and demand. As per MAIT's estimate, the
sale
of personal computers in India is expected to grow single digit,
3%
this year.
According to Dr Alok
Bharadwaj, president, MAIT, “2012-13 is a very challenging year
for
computer makers. While keeping in mind this challenging time, we
have
designed these recommendations in a way, which will directly and
indirectly expand the local manufacturing of IT and electronic
products.”
has also given emphasis on the stable governance. The abrupt
alterations in the government policies change the entire
taxes,
prices and polices which give out a negative signal to foreign
investors and impact the sentiments of consumers. Therefore,
MAIT
wants govt to encourage finance schemes for PC purchase at low
interest rates, and a subsidy
on
broadband access charges in rural areas and local language
applications which will grow PC penetrations.
Talking about the local
manufacturing, Bharadwaj commented, "The local manufacturing is
pegged to be $400 bn industry in 2020. But the core issue is
that
only $100 bn will come from India and majority will be imported,
and
this will create trade deficit. Thus, to push local
manufacturing, we
need to bring international IT manufacturing policies in place.
Having said that government has a clear intent to push local
manufacturing, but lack of political consent is playing a
barrier.”
The other area of
concern
for MAIT is the delay of GST implementation, “We want
confirmation
on the GST. The IT industry is sensitive to movement of goods
across
the country. Therefore, we want GST implementation at the
earliest
and issuance of transfer pricing guidelines.”
Besides budget
recommendations, MAIT is also acting as a nodal agency for the
e-waste management. As e-waste regulations are set to roll out
in the
month of May, 2012, the association is launching a new mechanism
to
help e-waste management. "We are planning to launch e-waste
information portal, where all the central and state pollution
control
boards, all 43 recyclers of India, bulk customers who want to
dispose
their e-waste, and manufacturers of electronic products, will
get
registered. This will help communication information exchange
amongst
all the stakeholders of IT,” he said.
The association is a
rolling out 3 specialized vertical chapters for SIs, SMEs and
recyclers. The association is appointing 3 chairmen. These
chapters
will act as house with in a house. Every month, MAIT
will
organize debates and discussions among the stakeholders.
The association has
identified 8 IT associations to form a federation. “Essentially,
we
want to tie-up with large associations. Regional and small
associations will not find much value additions. Already we have
tied-up with Compass, TAIT, Confed-ITA, ACMA, and we are going
to
rope in CMDA Pune,” concluded Bhardwaj.