GE wants govt. to provide certainty in tax laws

GE wants govt. to provide certainty in tax laws General Electric (GE) Chief Executive Jeffrey Immelt has urged that government to provide certainty in tax laws to make India a good place to invest in.

Referring to the recent controversy over issues of retrospective taxation, Immeelt said that such moves by the government bothered foreign investors.

Speaking on the topic, he said, Tax laws have triggered investor concern, which is a negative. If you put yourself in the shoes of US and European CEO, the viewpoint has been negative."

The government's retrospective taxation provision allowed for taxation of overseas mergers of companies, in case the assets were based in India.

Immelt, however, described P. Chidambaram's comeback as union finance minister as "very positive." He added that the final three months of 2012 were better than the earlier months of the year.

About the economy, he said that the country's current 5 per cent annual growth rate was not sustainable. He also said that the labour advantage of the country was becoming less significant for foreign manufacturers.

When asked about the company's growth, he said the company expected its India business to grow at 15-20 per cent on sustainable basis.

GE, which is exporting more than $1 billion in products & services from India, has a wide-ranging portfolio in India, including power, oil, gas, aviation, transportation and healthcare.