TAX INCENTIVES AND GROWTH OF CEMENT INDUSTRY IN INDIA Punam Sachdeva *, Dr. Hem Chand Jain ** Associate Professor, Commerce, University of Delhi Kalindi College *, Deen Dayal Upadhyaya College ** Punamsachdeva01@yahoo.com *, hemchandjain@yahoo.co.in ** Abstract Fiscal policy plays an important role by introducing suitable corporate tax incentives and motivating industries to grow, to accord higher priority to certain industrial sectors in India. Any tax incentive scheme of Government influences tax liability of companies, its financial performance and amount of reserves and stimulates investment in companies. The present work analysis attempts to know how corporate tax incentives influence growth of cement industry and also to highlight their relationship. But in this study the industrial growth is measured in terms of the growth of five financial variables only. These variables selected are profit after tax, gross fixed assets, capital employed, reserves and surplus and shareholder s equity which signify industrial growth. During the period from the financial year 2005-2006 to 2014-2015 the data of these variables is collected and compiled on average basis for selected companies. The results of the data reveal that the values of the variables are increasing throughout the decade. This trend is indicative of growth of cement companies during the period under review. A linear regression analysis technique is also used in the study. This analysis explains the relationship between tax incentives and the increase in values of selected financial variables annually. The data analysis through b co-efficient, standard error, T value and R 2 value is shown in the tables. The results witness that these variables are significant contributors to the growth of the industry. A size wise analysis of the companies also confirms favorable growth with varying values. Corporate tax incentives have been an important element of fiscal system leading to a positive impact on the growth of cement industry. Keywords: Fiscal policy, Tax incentives, Tax burden, Linear regression analysis, Industrial growth. 1 P a g e
Introduction India ranks second in global cement industry. The demand of cement is growing at 8 per cent and is expected to grow higher. Domestic consumption of cement in 2011 was 165.63 MT and likely to reach 324 MT in 2015. The cement production is expected to reach 550 MT by 2020. The demand of cement is growing in India and likely to reach 421 MT by the year 2017 due to infrastructure investments in Government s XII Plan 2012-2017 amounting to US $ 1 trillion. Further about 100 smart cities and infrastructure opportunities particularly in eastern states of India will further boost its demand. Cement industry in India includes cement and its products, cement sheets. There are approximately 81 actively listed public limited companies in cement industry on Bombay Stock Exchange. This industry has generated numerous employment opportunities for rural as well as urban workforce. There are many tax incentives available to industries depending upon the nature of manufacturing activity and the eligibility norms. These incentives are based either on the investment made or expenditure incurred. Sometimes incentives are available as deduction from income from business or profession. But the nature and quantum of incentives available at a particular time, nature of industry, period of benefit will determine the effect on industrial growth. The various tax incentives available to industries are depreciation allowance under Sec.32, and Sec.32AC provides for Investment allowance, investment allowance in notified backward area in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Telangana and West Bengal under Sec.32AD, deduction under Sec.35 for expenditure on scientific research, amortization of preliminary expenses under Sec.35 D, the family planning expenditure under Sec.36 (1)(ix) and many more. Objective Corporate tax incentives benefit the taxpayer companies in many ways. There may be a reduction in the amount of tax payable, increase in the volume of fixed assets, capital composition etc. Therefore every year corporate tax incentives are reviewed to give benefits to industries for accelerating their growth. The objective of this article is to test empirically the impact of corporate tax incentives on the growth of cement Industry. As corporate tax incidence 2 P a g e
reflects the benefits of tax incentives available to the industry, there is a need to study the relationship between tax incentives and growth of cement industry in India. Review of literature The following researchers have made contributions on this subject: In 1961 Ambirajan analyzed the evolution, structure and future prospects of corporate tax in India. In 1971 Singh studied the provisions of depreciation of Income tax act with special emphasis on corporate financial decisions. In 1980 Rao made some studies on the corporate tax system and opined that corporate tax rate was the highest in India. In 1983 Vinay D. Lall made some contributions on the subject of tax savings due to fiscal incentives granted to companies and observed those companies large in size and some new companies availed significant quantum of tax relief. In 1985 Dr. Devender Singh tested the hypothesis that corporate income tax does not adversely affect the growth of industry. Some of the other researchers have also reviewed the corporate tax structure in India. In 2004 Sarkar studied some issues related to tax incentives in India and compared them with that of U.K., USA etc. and opined that the tax incentive schemes had been successful in mobilizing savings and capital formation in India. Methodology The present study covers a period of ten years beginning from financial year 2005-2006 to 2014-2015 with a sample of 20 selected companies of the cement industry. Tax incentives available to companies are taken as independent variable affecting the growth of industry. Further the dependent variables selected as indicative of industrial growth are profit after tax (PAT), gross fixed assets (GFA), capital employed (CE), reserves and surplus (RES.&SUR), and shareholder s equity (SH.EQ). The data of these variables is collected over a period of ten years. The values of each variable for this period are compiled to observe their respective trend. Besides this a statistical tool applied for data analysis is linear regression model to know the relationship between tax incentives and dependent variables leading to Industrial growth. This relationship will further highlight how corporate tax incentives influence the values of variables 3 P a g e
every year during the decade. For further analysis all the companies of cement Industry are classified on the basis of their size as Large, Medium and Small as under: 1. Large: Companies with an investment in Fixed Assets Rs.25001 Millions and above. 2. Medium: Companies with an investment in Fixed Assets Rs.10001- to Rs.25000 Millions. 3. Small: Companies with an investment in Fixed Assets Rs.1001- to Rs.10000 Millions. The explanation of variables selected is as follows: 1. PAT: Represents profits before tax after deduction of provision for direct taxes. 2. CE: Refers to total capital with reserve fund and borrowings. 3. GFA: Represents net fixed assets including cumulative depreciation, arrears, provision for impairments less lease reserve adjustment. 4. RES.& SUR.: Refers to appropriation of profits meant for future contingencies. 5. SH.EQ.: Refers to equity of ordinary shareholders only. Source of data In this article data of twenty actively traded cement companies on Stock exchanges has been selected and compiled from CMIE PROWESS database, CMIE (Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy Pvt. Ltd.) Mumbai. The figures for the five selected variables have been obtained from the financial data as appearing in the financial statements published in CMIE PROWESS database. The database includes data sourced from the Stock exchanges duly revised by the PROWESS. Results and Discussion In this section the effect of tax incentives on the growth of cement Industry for 10 years period is shown in following three parts: PART -1: Data analysis of average growth of selected variables for period of 10 years. PART-2: Data of all selected companies during the period under research. 4 P a g e
PART-3: Analysis on the basis of size of companies under review. PART-1 In this part data compiled depicts the growth of variables selected under the study for cement Industry. The data of variables for a period of 10 years for twenty selected companies is presented below: TABLE-1: GROWTH DATA OF VARIABLES (in millions) FY PAT GFA CE RES. & SUR. SH.EQ. 2005-6 1812.99 14828.78 14697.18 8466.91 8510.94 2006-7 2939.96 16148.77 18475.66 10835.01 11470.05 2007-8 4018.15 18233.85 22460.53 14333.19 14865.81 2008-9 3402.62 22354.54 27359.53 16696.46 17238.89 2009-10 3908.90 25592.93 30514.03 21254.16 21728.83 2010-11 3070.76 35712.70 37889.13 27087.79 27435.37 2011-12 4530.35 39761.55 43953.92 30358.05 30672.68 2012-13 4962.69 42943.03 48888.38 34076.63 34176.84 2013-14 3849.59 46413.12 53983.51 36940.67 37087.06 2014-15 4176.69 52848.41 58202.00 38677.10 39137.71 It is observed from values given in Table-1 that profit after tax (PAT) is increasing year after year. The value of 1812.99 millions in 2005-2006 has increased to 4176.69 millions in 2014-2015. This increase is significant during the period under study. Thus a comparison of figures during the decade witnesses growth in profits. Similarly there is an increasing trend in values of Gross fixed assets, capital employed during this period. This rise in data can also be attributed to growth of industry. The reserves and surplus were amounting to 38677.10 millions in 2014-2015 5 P a g e
as compared to 8466.91 millions in 2005-2006 indicate growth of industry. A similar trend is observed in the variable shareholders equity which was 8510.94 millions in 2005-2006 and touched 39137.71 millions in 2014-2015. Hence it can be derived that corporate tax incentives positively affect the growth of cement Industry. PART-2 Regression Analysis Results and Discussion In this part the results of the impact of tax incentives on all the selected variables mentioned above are shown in Table-2 with their detailed analysis. TABLE-2 ANALYSIS FOR TEN YEARS CEMENT INDUSTRY- TWENTY COMPANIES. REGRESSION RESULTS OF IMPACT OF TAX INCENTIVES ON DIFFERRENT VARIABLES DEPENDENT PAT GFA CE RES.& SUR. SH. EQ INDEPENDENT b b b b b TAX INCENTIVE T 0.410 8.695 9.688 6.403 6.513 (0.651) (1.873) (1.293) (1.309) (1.242) 0.630 4.641* 7.489* 4.889* 5.243* R 2 0.04 0.72 0.87 0.74 0.77 Notes: 1. Figures in parenthesis below the 'b' coefficients represents the S.E. of 'b' 2. Regression coefficients with no asterisk mark are insignificant at 5 % level. 3. *indicates significant at 5% 6 P a g e
The data analysis of Table-2 indicates that the b coefficient value is positive. So during a period of 10 years under consideration gross fixed assets (GFA), capital employed (CE), reserves and surplus (R&S), shareholders equity (SE) are all favorably influenced by independent variable i.e. tax incentives. The standard error value indicates the reliability of results derived. The T values at five per cent level of significance (risk of being wrong) with asterisk mark are significant except for profit after tax. Even R 2 values also depict that except profit after tax a strong relationship exists between tax incentives and different variables explaining industrial growth. These results are conclusive evidence of cement industry s growth. As a consequence tax incentives have had a positive effect on the growth of cement industry at five per cent level of significance. There is an important observation that the industrial growth is influenced by non tax considerations also, but in this study the aspect of non tax considerations has not been taken into account. Tax incentive is the sole variable considered to have an impact on industrial growth. PART 3 Size wise analysis In this part the twenty selected companies of the cement Industry are classified on the basis of their size as already mentioned in the Research Methodology above. Their data analysis results are shown in part 3. The data analysis of the impact of tax incentives on growth of eleven large sized, four medium sized and five small sized companies in cement Industry is presented through Table-3, Table-4 and Table-5 respectively. 7 P a g e
TABLE-3 ANALYSIS FOR TEN YEARS CEMENT INDUSTRY- LARGE SIZED ELEVEN COMPANIES. REGRESSION RESULTS OF IMPACT OF TAX INCENTIVES ON DIFFERRENT VARIABLES DEPENDENT PAT GFA CE RES.& SUR. SH. EQ INDEPENDENT b b B b b TAX 0.404 8.355 9.570 6.298 6.413 INCENTIVE (0.632) (1.889) (1.246) (1.270) (1.196) T 0.639 4.422* 7.678* 4.956* 5.361* R 2 0.04 0.70 0.88 0.75 0.78 Notes: 1. Figures in parenthesis below the 'b' coefficients represents the S.E. of 'b' 2. Regression coefficients with no asterisk mark are insignificant at 5 % level. 3. *indicates significant at 5% The data analysis of large sized companies in Table-3 highlights that any change in tax incentives (independent variable) results in favorable changes in the PAT, GFA, CE, RES.&SUR., SH.EQ. i.e. (dependent variables) signifying the growth of industry. At five per cent level of significance, except for profit after tax, a higher b co-efficient values, T values and R 2 values show that there is a strong relationship between tax incentives and the dependent variables explaining growth of cement industry. Hence an overall impact is that tax incentives positively affect industrial growth. 8 P a g e
TABLE-4 ANALYSIS FOR TEN YEARS CEMENT INDUSTRY-MEDIUM SIZED FOUR COMPANIES REGRESSION RESULTS OF IMPACT OF TAX INCENTIVES ON DIFFERRENT VARIABLES DEPENDENT PAT GFA CE RES.& SUR. SH. EQ INDEPENDENT b b B b b TAX 0.596 14.910 8.571 6.101 6.070 INCENTIVE (1.324) (3.863) (3.134) (2.208) (2.228) T 0.450 3.858* 2.734* 2.763* 2.723* R 2 0.02 0.65 0.48 0.48 0.48 Notes: 1. Figures in parenthesis below the 'b' coefficients represents the S.E. of 'b' 2. Regression coefficients with no asterisk mark are insignificant at 5 % level. 3. *indicates significant at 5% It is observed from the above table that when the results are analysed for a period of ten years for the medium sized companies, the values indicate that tax incentives continue to remain significant. At five per cent level of significance, although all the variables are positivetly affected but gross fixed assets are strongly affected by the independent variable i.e. tax incentives. R 2 values indicate that tax incentives strongly affect the variable gross fixed assets as compared to other dependent variables. Thus in case of medium sized companies of the cement industry, tax incentives do positively affect industrial growth. 9 P a g e
TABLE-5 ANALYSIS FOR TEN YEARS CEMENT INDUSTRY-SMALL SIZED FIVE COMPANIES. REGRESSION RESULTS OF IMPACT OF TAX INCENTIVES ON DIFFERRENT VARIABLES DEPENDENT PAT GFA CE RES.& SUR. SH. EQ INDEPENDENT b B b B b TAX 0.674 7.877 10.033 10.223 10.383 INCENTIVE (1.545) (5.561) (7.865) (6.276) (6.460) T 0.436 1.416 1.275 1.628 1.607 R 2 0.02 0.20 0.16 0.24 0.24 Notes: 1. Figures in parenthesis below the 'b' coefficients represents the S.E. of 'b' 2. Regression coefficients with no asterisk mark are insignificant at 5 % level. 3. *indicates significant at 5% In Part-3 of the study, data analysis of small size companies in Table-5 depicts that during the financial years 2005-06 to 2014-15, b values indicate that tax incentives positively influence the dependent variables signifying growth. But the other values namely T values, R values are not indicating a significant relationship. This indicates that there are other non tax factors affecting the variables depicting industrial growth. Conclusion Tax incentives are significant tool of the industrial growth. The changing tax provisions in the last decade are justifying industrial growth. The increasing values of variables namely profit after tax, gross fixed assets, capital employed, reserves and surplus, shareholders equity of twenty selected companies throughout the period of study is attributed to the growth of cement industry. Hence overall the tax incentives positively affect the growth of cement Industry. 10 P a g e
Further linear regression analysis of the twenty cement companies indicates that tax incentives significantly affect each of the variables except profit after tax. The values at five percent level of significance confirm that tax incentives prove to be significant variable affecting industrial growth except profit after tax. Hence the overall impact of tax incentives on industrial growth in cement industry is favorable. A size wise analysis concludes that in case of large and medium sized companies, the effect of tax incentives on variables responsible for industrial growth is significant. However in case of small sized companies, although taxes affect the variables indicative of growth but not significantly. The overall impact is that corporate tax incentives do not adversely influence the industrial growth. Despite the fact that tax incentives significantly affect the growth of industry, it is not the only variable leading to industrial growth. There are other predominant non tax considerations than tax considerations affecting industrial growth. However, in the present study this aspect of non tax considerations has not been taken into account. Tax incentive is the only variable considered to examine its impact on industrial growth in cement industry. Hence this research paper concludes that tax incentives positively affect the different variables leading to industrial growth in cement industry. References Forbes N., (2002) Doing Business in India A. Krueger (ed.) Economic Policy Reforms and the Indian Economy, pp 129-68 New Delhi: Oxford University Press. Balakrishnan.P, and M Parmeshwaran, (2007) Understanding Economic growth in India: A prerequisite Economic and Political weekly 42(7):2915-22 C R Kothari, G Garg (2014) 3 rd Ed. on Research Methodology, Methods and Techniques New Delhi. New Age International Pvt. Ltd. Publishers 11 P a g e
David M. Levine, David F. Stephen, Kathryn A. Szabat,(2014) 7 th Ed. on Statistics for Managers,-using Microsoft Excel PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd. www.prowess.com CMIE PROWESS database, CMIE (Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy Pvt. Ltd.) Mumbai. www.ibef.org /industry/cement-india.aspx 12 P a g e