The Finance Ministry has signaled the industry not to expect any major fiscal sops in the Union Budget to be presented on July 3 by the Finance Minister and has limited headroom for giveaways due to the economic downturn.
In pre-Budget consultations, senior officials of the Finance Ministry conveyed the disappointment of the government to industry for not passing the benefits excise and service tax cuts to the consumers, which was announced in December and January, a chamber official said.
However, earlier this month, the Revenue Secretary P V Bhide had convened separate meetings with industry bodies that include CII as well as FICCI and Assocham.
While, the three chambers presented the wish lists to the Finance Ministry, they were told that the new Finance Minister would not have much headroom for any more fiscal incentives. The fiscal deficit for 2009-10 is pegged at Rs 3,32,835 crore, 5.5 per cent of the GDP.
The direct tax kitty dipped to Rs 3.38 lakh crore in 2008-09 as against the truncated target of Rs 3.45 lakh crore.
The government had slashed excise duty of four per cent and service tax of two per cent across-the-board in the two stimulus packages to limit the impact of global downturn on the economy.
In pre-Budget consultations, senior officials of the Finance Ministry conveyed the disappointment of the government to industry for not passing the benefits excise and service tax cuts to the consumers, which was announced in December and January, a chamber official said.
However, earlier this month, the Revenue Secretary P V Bhide had convened separate meetings with industry bodies that include CII as well as FICCI and Assocham.
While, the three chambers presented the wish lists to the Finance Ministry, they were told that the new Finance Minister would not have much headroom for any more fiscal incentives. The fiscal deficit for 2009-10 is pegged at Rs 3,32,835 crore, 5.5 per cent of the GDP.
The direct tax kitty dipped to Rs 3.38 lakh crore in 2008-09 as against the truncated target of Rs 3.45 lakh crore.
The government had slashed excise duty of four per cent and service tax of two per cent across-the-board in the two stimulus packages to limit the impact of global downturn on the economy.
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