Shashank Srivastava, Senior Executive Director, Maruti Suzuki, said the auto industry’s performance has a “close correlation” with the country’s overall economic growth
As the Interim Budget draws close, automobile industry stakeholders have varied expectations from Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. The industry believes that focus on last-mile connectivity, infrastructure and policy consistency would propel sectoral expansion.
The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) believes that though sector-specific announcements are unlikely to be made, the association hopes that there will be no “drastic change” in the existing policies, which can disrupt the ecosystem.
Santosh Iyer, Managing Director and CEO of Mercedes-Benz India, feels the luxury car industry makes a significant contribution to the GDP and expects a rationalised duty structure.
Industry players, especially those betting big on battery-run vehicles, also expect sustained support for greener technologies, especially electric vehicles. The automotive industry is seeking an update on potential FAME 3 schemes (incentivising EV production), reduction in GST on lithium-ion batteries, production-linked incentives, and lowering the GST on entry-level internal combustion engine two-wheelers, which currently stands at 18 percent.
The Automotive Component Manufacturers’ Association (ACMA), the apex body for the auto component industry, lauded the government for its “benign policies”, especially the PLI and FAME, which have greatly benefitted the automotive ecosystem.
Hari Kiran, Co-Founder and COO, eBikeGo, a manufacturer of e-bikes, believes that a uniform 5 percent GST on all EV sparеs, which is alignеd with thе 5 percent GST on vеhiclеs, will rеsonatе with thе industry as it aims for a morе еquitablе tax structurе.
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