The Union Budget must end the ‘attack of raj and tax terrorism’, says Congress

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh. File | Photo Credit: ANI

The Congress said on Sunday (January 19, 2025) that the Modi government’s “regressive policies” have broken investor confidence in India and turned “the ease of doing business into the discomfort of doing business”.

The next budget must end “tax raiding and terrorism” to fix this, the opposition party said.

It also called on the government to take steps to protect Indian manufacturing jobs and take drastic measures to strengthen wages and purchasing power.

Congress General Secretary (Executive, Communications) Jairam Ramesh said the Modi government has long proclaimed its desire to promote “ease of doing business” in India but over the past decade “we have seen a reduction in private investment which has led to business development”. records have been set and the freedom of businessmen who have left India in large numbers to foreign shores”.

“The byzantine, punitive, and lawless regime that combines GST and income tax – which amounts to total tax terrorism – is now a major threat to India’s prosperity and has contributed to ‘no business’,” he said in a statement. .

The bulk of investment which is private domestic investment has been weak since 2014, Ramesh said, adding that it was stable at 25-30 percent of GDP during Manmohan Singh’s tenure as Prime Minister.

“In the last ten years, it has come down to 20-25% of the GDP range. This sluggish investment has been accompanied by high-value migration. More than 17.5 lakh Indians have acquired the citizenship of another country in the last decade,” he said.

An estimated 21,300 million dollars left India between 2022 and 2025, he said.

“All this is happening for three reasons. First, the complex GST. According to former Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian, the GST announced by the Prime Minister as a Good and Simple Tax has up to 100 different tax rates, including tax. ,” he said.

Duplication of rates and confusion resulted in a shocking GST evasion of Rs 2.01 lakh crore, which is almost double the Rs 1.01 lakh crore reported in FY23, he said.

Mr. Ramesh said 18,000 fake organizations have been exposed and many may go undetected.

“Secondly, despite claims to the contrary, Chinese imports into India continue unabated with a record trade deficit of $85 billion by 2023-24. This has hurt Indian manufacturing, especially in labour-intensive sectors,” Ramesh said.

Third, weak consumption and stagnant wages have dampened India’s consumption growth despite free access to personal credit, he said.

“According to the data of the Ministry of Agriculture, the real wages of agricultural workers grew by 6.8 percent annually under the UPA, and decreased by 1.3 percent annually under the Modi government,” he said.

Citing data from the Periodic Labor Force Survey, he said it shows that earnings have stagnated between 2017 and 2022 for all workers – salaried, casual and self-employed.

“These regressive policies have broken the confidence of investors in India. To fix this, the budget must end the raj attacks and Tax Terrorism, take action to protect Indian manufacturing jobs and take strong measures to strengthen wages and purchasing power, which will encourage Indian businesses to invest no that will do,” said Ramesh.

Sharing his statement to X, Mr. Ramesh said, “The Union Budget 2025/26 will be presented in thirteen days from today. Here is our statement on how the Modi Government has turned the ease of doing business into the discomfort of doing business – thus suppressing the private investment sentiment needed to repair the damage.”

The Congress has been attacking the government for its handling of the economy, saying the issues of rising prices, declining private sector investment and stagnant wages are hitting the common man hard.