"Start-Ups Victims Of Needless Over-Regulation," Says Kiran Mazumdar Shaw

Industrialist Kiran Mazumdar Shaw has asked the government to look into the factors that could be hurting start-ups in India, at a time when a slowdown in several sectors has put severe pressure on companies to cut costs and consumers to curtail spending.

"Bureaucracy n over regulation is stifling business in India. Start ups are victims of needless over regulation. @nsitharaman @PiyushGoyal Please examine n deregulate to unshackle enterprise. @amitabhk87," the chairperson and managing director of biopharmaceuticals firm Biocon tweeted on Tuesday. She also tagged Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and the CEO of the centre's think tank NITI Aayog, Amitabh Kant, in her tweet.

Bureaucracy n over regulation is stifling business in India. Start ups are victims of needless over regulation. @nsitharaman @PiyushGoyal please examine n deregulate to unshackle enterprise. @amitabhk87

— Kiran Mazumdar Shaw (@kiranshaw) November 5, 2019

Ms Shaw had praised Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman after she announced a corporate tax rate cut from 30 per cent to 22 per cent in September. "...This is a great move which will firmly revive growth and investment. My hats off to FM Nirmala Sitharaman for this bold but most needed move," Ms Shaw, a recipient of both Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan, had tweeted the day the tax cut move was announced.

Ms Sitharaman in the Union Budget, presented in July after Prime Minister Narendra Modi won a second term, had announced several proposals to help start-ups, some of which included no scrutiny for angel funding for investors and the launch of a government-funded television channel for them.

Angel tax is paid by a start-up for taking money from an angel investor, who gives the funds typically in exchange for ownership equity in the company. It was introduced in the Union Budget in 2012.

Ms Shaw did not elaborate on the "needless over regulation" she referred to in her tweet on Tuesday. She has, however, in the past expressed concerns over "tax harassment", according to reports.

In an interview to NDTV on August 4, former Infosys director Mohandas Pai said "tax terrorism is the biggest threat to the ease of doing business in India" and despite the government's promise to end it, "unnecessary tax litigation is still rampant", which is not allowing the country to achieve its potential.

Mr Pai told NDTV that Ms Shaw was asked by "a government official" not to speak about issues such as income tax harassment. She had also admitted this, The Telegraph reported.