'Govt wants engagement with industry'

The NDA government is in favour of a continuous engagement with the industry and business, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said here on Sunday.

Interacting with trade and industry representatives, she said the budget presented by her in Lok Sabha on February 1 had several features related to the tax administration like faceless appeals which would become a reality with the aid of new technology.

"The broad message apparent (in the budget) is that the government wants continuous engagement with industry and business. And my presence here is not in response to what is happening inside (country) and outside," the minister said.

Finance minister Sitharaman said the government was ready to set up ATMs in tea-growing regions.

"I know the number of ATMs is minuscule in the tea-growing regions. The government is ready to set up such facilities in these areas," she said responding to a query from Tea Board chairman P.K. Bezbaruah, about the problem of cashless wage payments in such regions of Assam and West Bengal due to the paucity of ATMs.