Mumbai, June 3
Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram has promised to present the Union Budget for 2004-05 in the first week of July.
Speaking to reporters here, Mr Chidambaram said the United Progressive Alliance government hoped to get the Budget passed in Parliament in the first week of August.
The Finance Minister, who is on a visit here to reassure investors about the government’s commitment to economic reforms, held meetings with prominent industrialists and investors in Mumbai. “I have come here to give a direct message that the UPA government is committed to the path of reforms and will take steps to advance them,” Mr Chidambaram said.
The Finance Minister told reporters that he had been successful in conveying the message to the investing community. “My impression after the two days of meetings in Mumbai is that practically everybody is satisfied that the CMP will take the reform process forward and make the Indian economy stronger,” he said.
Mr Chidambaram said there were signs that substantial investments would be coming into the country in the next 10 months, especially in the power sector. He informed that the past 10 weeks saw financial closure for six power projects with a generating capacity of 3,700 MW. The minister said 10 more projects with a capacity of 6,867 MW were in the pipeline.
Mr Chidambaram further indicated that the government would continue to woo investors in manufacturing and agriculture sectors. “I regard myself as the Minister for Investment’. My job is to promote investment,” he told reporters.
During his Mumbai visit, Mr Chidambaram had met major participants in the investment community, including SEBI, stock exchanges, brokers, LIC, UTI, GIC, bankers, FIIs and leading industrialists.
Industrialists and stock brokers who met the Finance Minister later told reporters that they wanted signs that the reforms process initiated by the former National Democratic Alliance government would continue. To bring in more players in the stock market, the investing community also asked for long-term capital gains, tax exemption and greater role for foreign institutional investors in the market.
Mr Chidambaram assured them that he would look into the proposal to create a market stabilisation fund and allow banks to take higher equity market exposure.
Earlier, Mr Chidambaram said the Indian economy must grow at the rate of 7-8 per cent a year, and that this growth rate had to be attained subject to fiscal prudence and financial discipline.
He said it was possible to do so by staying within the broad goals outlined in the United Progressive Alliance’s common minimum programme.
