New Delhi, Feb 24 (IANS): India Inc hopes that the government would step up action on ease of doing business by simplifying taxes in the upcoming Union Budget due on February 28, a Business Confidence Survey conducted by industry chamber Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry here said.
"It was unanimously felt by the respondents that the government should step up action on ease of doing business and especially towards simplification of taxes in the forthcoming Budget. A majority of the respondents also expect the passage of Goods and Services Tax bill," said the survey released Tuesday.
The survey drew responses from about 150 companies with a turnover ranging from Rs.3 crore to Rs.10,000 crore and belonging to a wide array of sectors - chemicals, steel, paper products, textiles, automotive, electric machinery, pharmaceutical, food processing and hospitality.
The survey gauges expectations of the respondents for the period January to June 2015.
"The overall Business Confidence Index stood at 70.5, a tad higher than the value of 70.4 in the previous survey," it said.
The various announcements made by the government over the course of last seven to eight months did have a positive impact on the sentiment of the business community; however in order to sustain this buoyancy it will be important that the process of implementation of these reforms continues with momentum, the survey added.
The participants said they are also looking forward to labour reforms and incentives for sectors including manufacturing, infrastructure and real estate.
According to the survey results, the proportion of respondents anticipating 'moderately to substantially better’ performance over the near term noted a marginal slip at the economy, industry and firm level.
A majority of participants remained optimistic about the future prospects. Around 83 percent of the participants in the current survey cited a ‘moderately to substantially better’ overall economic situation over the next six months, compared to 84 percent stating likewise in the last round.
“The outlook with regard to investments still seems weighed down by caution and the projects are yet to take off. In the current survey, about 38 percent participants expected higher investments over near term; the corresponding number in the previous survey was around the same at 39 percent. A year ago 24 percent participants had stated likewise,” the survey said.