The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Chhattisgarh State Office organised its Annual meeting followed by the Public Session on Digital Chhattisgarh on Wednesday in the city. DS Misra, Additional Chief Secretary, Finance Department, Planning and Commercial Tax, Government of Chhattisgarh, Dr Amir Ullah Khan, Economist and Associate Fellow, India Development Foundation & Adjunct Professor of Economics, Business and law Edith Cowan University, Sudhir Deoras, Immediate Past Chairman, CII Eastern Region, Dinesh Agrawal, Immediate Past Chairman, CII Chhattisgarh State Council, Ashish Jain, Chairman, CII Chhattisgarh State Council, Dr Saugat Mukherjee, Regional Director, CII Eastern Region addressed the public session.
Dinesh Agrawal, Immediate Past Chairman, CII Chhattisgarh State Council in his address said that Chhattisgarh State is already being described as a ‘land of Opportunity’ for IT and ITeS business. It was one of the early birds in e-Governance, having begun its journey way back in 2002-03. Despite limitations such as low Tele-density and even lower literacy rates, the State has performed remarkably well in e-Governance and e-Readiness.
Additional Chief Secretary, Finance Department, Planning and Commercial Tax, Government of Chhattisgarh in his address by said that to ensure greater efficiency in tax administration and increased revenue, it will be done by promoting voluntary compliance, putting in place “Digital by Default” regime – minimize human interface, determined action to combat tax fraud and evasion.
He further shared the initiatives taken by the Department viz increased threshold limit from 10 lakh to 20 lakh w.e.f. April 1, 2014, Easy Composition Scheme(only 0.25% of turnover)for small dealers having turnover less than Rs60 lakhs which has impact as Approx. 15% dealers got relief from departmental formalities with no adverse impact on Revenue and Better utilization of human resources for potential tax payers.
Dr Amir Ullah Khan, Economist and Associate Fellow, India Development Foundation & Adjunct Professor of Economics, Business and law Edith Cowan University in his presentation gave certain facts and figures about India and special focus on Chhattisgarh as while almost half of all urban Indians own a mobile, only 1 in 10 rural Indians own one. The 25-35 years age group is the largest mobile user group. Only 1 in 5 mobile Indian is a woman. While 1 in 3 Indian men are mobile, only 1 in 10 Indian women are mobile. The North zone is the single largest mobile region, though mobile penetration is highest in East zone. The session was concluded with vote of thanks by Ashish Jain, Chairman, CII Chhattisgarh