Essar Group Chairman Shashi Ruia on Saturday criticised the government for the 'archaic laws' and 'plethora of taxes' imposed on business houses and suggested rationalisation of the tax structure.
"Our archaic laws and the plethora of taxes do not augur well for the growth of the economy and our competitiveness," he said while addressing the ninth convocation of the Entreprenueurship Development Institute of India (EDI) at Gandhinagar on Saturday evening.
"If a company is manufacturing toothpaste, 63 per cent of its earnings is given away as taxes," said Ruia, citing an example. "Apart from this there are 14 different agencies in the country who have the power to arrest you without a warrant."
"They will be unleashed upon you," he said while addressing the 78 students who were awarded post-graduate diplomas in business entrepreneurship and management and post-graduate diplomas in management of NGOs.
"Doing business in such circumstances is going to be difficult unless the government sits down and rationalises the tax structure," the noted industrialist observed.
"The irony is that we are a nation of natural entrepreneurs but many of us have made it really big in the West. Some have moved out of necessity but largely a lot of entrepreneurs have moved because of complicated laws and education system."