Industry body PHDCCI submits recommendations related to housing, banking sectors to RBI

Industry body PHDCCI has submitted several recommendations on issues related to the housing sector, banking, and foreign trade to RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das.

A delegation of PHDCCI led by its president Saket Dalmia met the governor and submitted the recommendations.

Amidst global economic challenges and ongoing pandemic impact, the chamber made a strong case for lowering housing sector interest rates to stimulate growth. Lower rates can invigorate investments, bolster consumption, enhance competitiveness, and aid industries facing headwinds, it said.

"While we understand and appreciate the efforts of the Reserve Bank of India in stabilizing the economy and ensuring liquidity, we believe that a reduction in interest rates at this juncture would provide a much-needed boost to our industry," it said in the submission to Das.

The chamber highlighted several issues related to the banking sector, including the rectification of export realization purpose codes and the protection of GST input benefits.

It also called for permission to acquire existing units/companies in India using rupee loans, similar to overseas acquisitions.

At present, a bank loan in Indian rupee is not permitted for the acquisition of any existing unit/ company in India, whereas the same is available for acquiring any unit/ company outside India, PHDCCI said.

Its recommendations on foreign trade include recovery of foreign bank charges from export proceeds, and liberalizing pre-shipment credit in foreign currency (PCFC).

The chamber also recommended that the 90 days limit fixed by RBI for classifying over dues of MSMEs should be increased to 180 days so that they are not constrained to divert their working capital towards servicing their loan instalments and clearing their over dues at the cost of their normal business operations.