Mumbai: Automotive industry players plan to step up their demand for a dedicated nodal government agency for the sector that they said contributes 7 per cent to gross domestic product but was ignored in the Covid-19 relief package.
A one-stop agency that deals with all sections of the automotive community, from component makers to automakers and dealers, will help the industry get better attention from the government, said industry executives.
Currently, companies in the sector have to deal with ministries including heavy industries, commerce, road transport, environment and petroleum, and other government bodies such as the Niti Aayog. This is not only time-consuming, but results in duplication of processes, they said.
“This (a nodal body) will help us for better coordination as well as the ease of doing business with a uniform set of regulations. Countries like Korea and Japan have a single nodal agency which works well for the automotive industry,” Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers president Rajan Wadhera said.
Wadhera and Vikram Kirloskar, the president of the Confederation of Indian Industry and vice-chairman of Toyota
Kirloskar Motors, said they had been pursuing this idea for some time, but it might not be on the priority agenda of the government. The Automotive Component Manufacturers Association (ACMA) and Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) said they were also pursuing the idea.
Maruti Suzuki chairman RC Bhargava and
TVS Motor chairman Venu Srinivasan underscored the need to have a focused approach go help the sector. “The government needs to have a correct approach and have a facilitating environment to do business,” Bhargava said. According to Srinivasan, "There is an urgent need to create demand through financial intervention, helping the auto industry to grow faster.”
The Indian automotive industry employs more than 3.7 crore people directly and indirectly and contributes 15 per cent of the country’s GST collection, said experts.