Govt. should cutback fuel subsidies: trade lobby

The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) on Monday said that the government should cutback on subsidies, especially on diesel and kerosene as the global oil prices are rising.

Listing their expectations from the Union Budget, the trade lobby also urged the government to not take up projects that involve huge additional expenditure such as those proposed in the National Food Security Act, keeping in view our highly inefficient delivery mechanisms.

“The lack of social security to the BPL populace is not so much due to inadequate spending by the government but more due to the benefits not reaching the grass-roots,” BCCI President Sandipan Chakravortty said in a statement.

He said that the India’s fiscal deficit was quite high and since the economy has returned to high growth and given the inflationary pressures that exist, it is time to rein in the deficit by reducing government expenditures.

To tame the country’s stiff food inflation, the BCCI called for reducing supply side bottlenecks by providing for better physical infrastructure, increases agricultural productivity and efficiency in storage as well as distribution of food grains.

Chakravortty also suggested that the government should encourage more foreign direct investments (FDI) and removing hurdles in its path because “non-FDI capital inflows have risen in comparison and this may require careful monitoring.”