Tax revamp in petroleum retail, sugar sectors: FM

He said fresh investments — not FDI and FII alone — would grow the economy, while assuring that the UPA was not planning a legislation for reservations in private sector.

Addressing the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) AGM Chidambaram said, ‘‘Textiles, petroleum and telecom have a convoluted tax structure, which we have to make simpler and investment-friendly. We will come up with a strategy next Budget.’’

He said growth was unsustainable under a system of doles, subsidies and concessions. The government is targeting growth of 7 to 8 per cent in coming years.

‘‘Every sector performed exceptionally well over April-October this fiscal. Now, we must demonstrate we can sustain this growth over a decade. This requires massive investment,’’ he told FICCI.

Chidambaram asked industry bodies to come up with proposals for specific sectors before the new Investment Commission and said that private industry has not shown much interest in roads, power, ports or tourism, even as private savings had not translated into investment.

He said the Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, should also come up with investment proposals for power and civil aviation.