The representatives of banks and financial institutions have met Union Finance Minister and his team in the pre-budget consultation exercise. Urban Cooperative Bank President Mr Mukund Abhyankar was also part of the delegation.
Mr Abyankar is said to have strongly demanded abolition of Section 80(P)(4) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 to free urban cooperative banks from payment of income tax and the establishment of a national-level UrbanCooperative Bank (UCB) for all 1600 Primary Cooperative Banks of India.
The banks’ representative called for implementation of recommendations of Naik Committee Report, removal of mismatch between asset liability and banks’ balance sheets and need for revision of definition of priority sector lending among others.
Other suggestions made by them include continuation of interest subvention scheme for the investment lending in agriculture sector, inclusion of joint collaborative group promoted by NABARD in priority sector lending, exemption from service tax for the 72 lakh self-help groups (SHGs) of women promoted by NABARD and an increase in the tax benefit limit for health insurance.
Those who attended the meeting besides Abhyankar included Ms Arundhati Bhattacharya, State Bank of India, Dr. Rajiv B. Lall, IDFC Ltd., Mr M. Narendra, Indian Overseas Bank (IOB), Mr K.R. Kamath, Punjab National Bank (PNB), Mr S.S. Mundra, Bank of Baroda (BOB), Mr Sudhir Kumar Jain, Syndicate Bank, Mr Rajiv Rishi, Central Bank of India, Mr M.S. Raghavan, IDBI, Dr. Harsh Kumar Bhanwala, NABARD, Mr S.K. Roy and many others.
Earlier Dr Dinesh, Chief executive of NCUI had also batted for the abolition of the income tax before the ministerial team.