India Inc on Tuesday made a strong pitch for an across-the-board reduction in personal tax rates to attain a 10% GDP growth rate. Industry captains told finance minister P Chidambaram at a pre-Budget meeting that excise duty on manufacturing should also be slashed to 14% from the current 16%.

With direct tax collections continuing to show unprecedented buoyancy, industry leaders on Tuesday made a strong pitch for reducing the tax burden, both on individuals and corporate houses, in Budget 2008.

In the pre-Budget meeting with finance minister P Chidambaram, industry leaders also asked for lower excise duty on manufactured goods in the Budget to sustain high economic growth.

Direct tax collections have witnessed 40% growth and are set to cross Rs 3,00,000-crore mark this fiscal.

Industry leaders, including Wockhardt chairman Habil Khorakiwala, Videocon Industries chairman V N Dhoot, Bharti Airtel chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal, Ranbaxy MD Malvinder Singh and Nicholas Piramal director Swati Piramal, wanted a hike in personal income-tax exemption limit from Rs 1.1 lakh to Rs 1.5 lakh, and a reduction in maximum rate from 30% to 25%. The maximum rate, applicable on income over Rs 2.5 lakh, should be made applicable on income over Rs 5 lakh, they said.