Anand Mahindra comes to Nirmala Sitharaman's defence, shuts trolls

Business tycoon Anand Mahindra, who is in the US right now, welcomed the move to slash corporate taxes by the government on Friday. He took to Twitter and termed the announcement "the best way to start the day". Adding that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman fired a shot that will be heard around the world, Anand Mahindra asserted that with the cuts in taxes, 'India has sent an invitation letter to global investors'.

READ | Anand Mahindra's caption contest, a gift that keeps giving; see here

Later in his tweets, Anand Mahindra came out in defence of Nirmala Sitharaman and gave a befitting reply to Twitter users questioning the timing of the tax cut announcements by the Finance Minister. He shut down the trolls on accusations that she did not take the step to reduce corporate tax in time.

READ | India Inc members appreciate Nirmala Sitharaman's move to slash corporate tax

India Inc hails move

The rate cuts in the corporate taxes were widely accepted and appreciated by the leaders in the Indian business sector and academia. The who's who of India Inc hailed the introduction of tax cuts as 'bold move', 'a progressive step', and 'much-needed booster-does' among other things. Biocon Kiran Chairperson and Managing Director Mazumdar Shaw took to Twitter and called the step a 'great move'. Kotak Mahindra Bank CEO Uday Kotak regarded the tax cuts as a 'progressive one'. He added that reducing corporate tax rate to 25% is big bang reform.

Big tax cuts announced

In a major fiscal booster, the government on Friday slashed effective corporate tax to 25.17 per cent inclusive of all cess and surcharges for domestic companies. The government also offered a lower rate to 17.01 per cent for new manufacturing firms in order to boost economic growth rate to help create jobs. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the new tax rate will be applicable from the current fiscal which began on April 1. She said that the reduction in tax rates has been done by promulgating an ordinance to an amendment to the Income Tax Act with effect from fiscal year 2019-20. 

READ | 'Howdy Modi' world's costliest event, attacks Rahul Gandhi on tax cuts

READ | Nitin Gadkari lauds FM's decision to slash down corporate tax