Budget 2018: Power sector hopes for boost to domestic manufacturers

As the government continues to lay emphasis for increased adoption of renewable energy the power sector hopes for a muchneeded thrust to domestic manufacture of equipments in this years Union Budget In terms of solar power the levy of safeguard duty on imports of solar equipment if implemented on immediate basis is projected to cause significant financial distress in the sector Therefore companies urge that this remain outside the purview of the Union Budget 201819Apart from this here are some expectations from the sectorFrom the Budget 201819 we hope that there are no negative surprises that might stagger this exponential growth The government should allow enough time for the industry to plan and get prepared for such significant regulatory change and not levy this on immediate basis to avoid significant financial distress on under construction projects Additionally while the direct and indirect tax benefits from renewable sector have been evoked we do hope that the corporate taxes will be lowered in Budget 2018 which is in line with the Governments vision of a lower tax regime said Nikunj Ghodawat CFO CleanMax SolarCurrently importing machinery and manufacturing equipment incur a heavy duty compared to the duty free import of finished products like Solar PV modules If the upcoming budget was to address the issue it would be beneficial for the industry and provide the necessitated support for domestic manufacturers to grow Earmarking financial support in Budget 2018 for the solar manufacturing sector would be welcome as it will help boost the manufacturing and value chain in the country and in turn help with the energy security It would also play a major role in reduction of any trade balance gap that might exist between India and other countries Another aspect we expect the budget to address would be the startups in the renewable energy sector who are front runners in bringing disruptive ideas technologies and innovations said Dr Hitesh Doshi Chairman and Managing Director Waaree GroupThere is need to promote Research amp Development RampD in electric vehicles to make them more efficient and have higher throughput Looking forward that the government will announce incentives for private companies to invest more in RampD in these fields in Budget 2018 Higher efficiency and power in these vehicles will make it easy for them to become popular said Pankaj Munjal CMD Hero CyclesOn a related note the Budget will be presented on Thursday by Finance Minister Arun JaitleyThis will be the last fullfledged budget of the Narendra Modiled government and the first post the rollout of the GSTCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news current affairs from Mumbai local news crime news and breaking headlines hereDownload the new midday Android and iOS apps to get updates on all the latest and trending stories on the go