New Delhi, Nov. 4: The government will release in the next few days a draft list of exemptions to be phased out as part of plans to gradually bring down the corporate tax rate to 25 per cent.

"I have announced a road map for direct taxation (to) bring corporate tax down to 25 per cent from 30 per cent by phasing out some of those exemptions. We are going to put in the public domain in the next few days some of those exemptions that we intend to phase out in the first round," finance minister Arun Jaitley said.

The first round is likely to be announced as part of the budget in February.

The government has been able to resolve a host of tax issues and expressed confidence that the goods and services tax (GST) will be rolled out soon, the minister said at an interactive session at the 'National Strategy Day in India' organised by the World Economic Forum (WEF) and the CII.

"The first tranche of reduction of corporate tax... I hope to do it in the near future whenever the new finance bill comes up," the minister said.

Analysts said "most important benefit of the lower tax rate and the elimination of exemptions is that it reduces the government's ability to play favourites and spreads out the tax burden on all. This will do a lot more to improve business confidence rather than all the rhetoric that is passed off as policy".

According to government data, revenue foregone in the form of incentives and tax exemptions to corporate houses in 2014-15 grew nearly 8 per cent year-on-year to over Rs 62,398 crore.

In Budget 2015, Jaitley had announced the government's intention to reduce corporate tax to 25 per cent from 30 per cent over the next four years.

He said the government has been able to address various tax legacy issues, including those pertaining to retrospective tax amendment.

"Systematically, one by one, we have been resolving (taxation issues)... That fear of retrospective taxation has gone. Two-three of those problems remain and they remain because of legal reasons. I have publicly announced that we are looking for processes by which we can resolve some of these," Jaitley said.

On growth prospects, Jaitley said the increased indirect tax collections suggest economic recovery.

"I can now see trickles of growth. One of the greatest positives is a huge increase in indirect tax revenues," he said, adding that the collection grew 36.5 per cent during the first seven months of the current fiscal ended October 31.

After discounting additional tax measures, the growth works out to 13.5 per cent. "Excise duty, Customs, service tax... on a year-on-year basis increased 13.5 per cent. With additional revenue measures, it is much more. This is a real increase. This actually indicates that manufacturing itself is picking up," he said.

On introduction of the goods and services tax (GST), which will replace more than a dozen state levies, Jaitley said "considerable headway" has been made and he would discuss the issue with the Congress again to ensure passage of the Bill in the Rajya Sabha.

The minister spoke of an improvement in macroeconomic data, which will enhance the country's ability to deal with global problems. He added that "impact (of Fed rate hike) would be there. I think rather than actual change, it's the suspense which has been impacting us for the last few years".

On power sector reforms, Jaitley said, "In the next couple of days, we are likely to announce some major policy decisions to take the sector out of stress. Once that happens, I am quite sure the private sector will also start participating. That is an infrastructure issue, which we are going to be addressing literally in the next couple of days, if not in the next couple of hours itself."

The efforts, he said, would be to address financial problems of the distribution companies, which had to suffer on account of reluctance of state governments to raise tariff.

On relaxation of the land acquisition law, Jaitley said states will be encouraged to come up with their own laws which will be ratified by the Centre. "Let the states bring about any change... The first state has already sent its proposal, we have accepted it and they have notified it," he said.