Godrej requests Govt not to increase CenVAT

The government should not raise the central value-added tax (Cenvat), which was reduced to 8 per cent as part of the stimulus measures, Godrej group chairman Adi Godrej has said.

“At present, Cenvat is 8 per cent. It is very important that the finance minister does not raise the Cenvat rate, because very soon we will be shifting to the goods and service tax (GST) regime. The best way forward is to merge the present fiscal stimulus with the introduction of the GST," he said on the sidelines of theCII-organised brand summit in Bangalore.

Pitching for early GST implementation, he said, “Consumer prices will fall, inflation will come down, government’s revenue will rise, fiscal deficit will come down, consumer demand and production will grow and the GDP growth will be very strong,” he said.

Meanwhile, his company, which recently re-positioned its brand, is actively looking at acquisition targets in India as well as in the developing countries. In India, the company is looking at any reasonably strong brand in personal or household care. Outside India, it is looking at firms in the field of household insecticides and hair care.

Buoyed by the fact that one third of sales are emanating from rural India in its FMCG business, Godrej is actively working on strengthening its rural distribution network.

The group is also planning a key focus on real estate, where it works on joint ventures with land owners by sharing space or revenue from the developed land, instead of acquiring land bank. Adi Godrej sees affordable homes to be the growth driver in the next decade, which will be complemented by the demand for residence furniture.

In Bangalore, the company is working on five real estate projects over 30 million sq ft, with an investment value of over Rs 2,000 crore. This includes the Woodsman Estate project on Bellary road, a gated community villa project - The Gold County - on Tumkur road and a residential project with actor Sanjay Khan, close to his spa hotel, Golden Palms.