Company Law-Protecting the Shareholder


the investment plans of industries. The protests of the shipping industry have been among the loudest, understandably because shipping has enjoyed development rebate on the most generous scale. Development rebate was available to the shipping industry at the highest rate (40 per cent) which, for a highly capital intensive industry, was nothing short of a bonanza. During the ten-year period, 1961-1970, certain major shipping companies, which made an operating profit of Rs 130 crores, paid tax of only about Rs 5 crores instead of the Rs 70 crores or so that they would normally have had to pay. In other words, the development rebate made available to these companies over Rs 60 crores for use to finance their expansion on which the investment made during these ten years amounted to Rs 175 crores.