New Delhi: In a pre-budget meeting with finance minister P. Chidambaram, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) presented a range of fiscal and technology related policy initiatives to stimulate industrial growth that would encourage value addition and also create employment in the country.

Leading industrialists took the opportunity to drive home the message that direct taxes burden of the corporates is high, when compared with Asean rates, and this was impacting their competitiveness. A section of industry suggested cut in corporate tax rate to 25 per cent.

India Inc also made a pitch for the scrapping of the fringe benefit tax (FBT) or "if not scrapped they said it should be simplified and genuine business expenses must be allowed as deduction," said N. Srinivasan, vice-president, FICCI.

Ficci also made a unanimous call for a hike in the depreciation rate on plant and machinery under the income-tax law from 15 per cent to 25 per cent. As part of tax reform measures, Ficci has proposed abolition of dividend distribution tax. For widening the tax base, Srinivasan said that Ficci has suggested to the Government to bring the "rural rich" into the income-tax net.