The hardware industry once again appears to have been short-changed by the Finance minister. There needs to be some introspection why this happens again and again
p____p The industry suffers from some very weak and ineffective lobbying. This was the point that kept coming up again and again at the Round Table discussion that was organized by Channel Times.
p____p If the industry has to move forward and break the shackles imposed by the system, the policies have to dramatically change. All this business of incremental change with policy changes thrown in the form of populist gestures cannot take the industry forward. What we need is a �Giant Leap� forward.
p____p I do not understand, why the industry cannot find the voice of consensus and address the issue strongly to the government. The governments of any day have to think of elections and vote banks and are so constrained to act urgently. So only the sectors that are brilliant revenue earners, like software exports and now the sunrise Biotech sector have get the sops that matter.
p____p VAT is a good move from government but again the overriding concern here is that the governments have not put processes in place and perhaps not many state governments are really ready for the transition from the CST regime to the VAT system.
p____p In such a context, it is quite understandable that the industry people have turned very cynical towards the whole affair of the Union budget. There were hardly any expectations from the industry on the eve of the budget and they were proved right.
p____p However, it is easier to sit back and reconcile to the state of affairs than to strive to change them. It is up to the industry leaders and associations to form consensus and get things done their way. Lobby hard and get it done!