Dear Members of the Media,
Would be most obliged if you could kindly carry the appended press release in your esteemed newspaper. Regards, John ========================= CII emphasizes on greater initiatives for R&D in the Union Budget Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) wants the next Budget to provide boost to R&D initiatives in the economy. "Our spending on R&D at less than one per cent of GDP compares unfavorably with 3-4 per cent in advanced countries. Indian Industry aspires to be at the forefront of innovation and R&D and CII believes that India has the potential to be one of the countries with the highest levels of embedded intelligence in its products and services. Therefore, we must make every effort to double the percentage spend on R&D over the next few years, which would be possible only by enhancing the participation of private sector," said Mr. Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, CII. While emphasizing the need for increasing the share of R&D expenditure in the economy, CII, among various measures, has suggested the extension in period as well as scope of Section 35 of the Income Tax Act, which allows weighted deduction of 200 per cent of expenses incurred on in-house R&D to select sectors, and expires on 31st March 2012. CII is of the view that not only the period of its applicability must be extended by at least five years but also its coverage must widen to include all sectors of the economy. "This is necessary to strengthen our economic power and competitiveness in the international arena by encouraging the use of cutting-edge technology across industry", stressed Mr. Banerjee. Further, CII has observed that the current provisions of deduction under Section 35 even for select industries are very restrictive as some of the activities directly related to research, such as clinical trials held on patients outside the hospitals, bioequivalence studies, regulatory and patent approvals etc, are outside the purview of the benefits. CII has, therefore, recommended that all activities related to research, even if they are carried outside the approved R&D facility, should be covered under the provision. Making a case of further extension in the provision of Section 35, CII in its pre-Budget Memorandum wants Section 35 to cover all R&D commissioned by firms to academic institutions, public sector R&D labs and land and building pertaining to R&D. Mr. Banerjee added that India has the potential to emerge as the global hub for research, innovation and design if we could strengthen the incentives for R&D activity in the country. Mumbai 7 February 2012 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Protect Goa's natural beauty Support Goa's first Tiger Reserve Sign the petition at: http://www.goanet.org/petition/petition.php ---------------------------------------------------------------------------