Will invest Rs 2\,000 crore in India: Toyota Kirloskar Motor chairman

Will invest Rs 2,000 crore in India: Toyota Kirloskar Motor chairman

High GST rates taking a toll on volumes, says Viswanathan

Topics
Toyota Motor | Goods and Services Tax | automobile industry

Shally Seth Mohile  |  Mumbai 

toyota
Like several others that have a relatively smaller footprint, the local arm of the world’s largest automaker has been hit hard by the pandemic and is struggling to utilise its plants optimally

Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) will not expand capacity if goods and services tax (GST) on automobiles is not reduced. The firm, however, will go ahead with its investment plans in India. In his tweet, Toyota Kirloskar Motor Chairman, Vikram Kirloskar said: “We are seeing the demand increase & the market recover slowly. The future of sustainable mobility is strong here in India and Toyota is proud to be part of this journey. We are investing Rs 2,000 crore towards the electrification of vehicles and helping build a strong India!”

But a high GST rate remains a concern for the firm. A high tax rate has been impeding volumes and saddling the company, said Shekar Viswanathan, vice-chairman, TKM.

Like several others that have a relatively smaller footprint, the local arm of the world’s largest automaker has been hit hard by the pandemic and is struggling to utilise its plants optimally.

“If the GST rates don’t come down, the demand for vehicles can’t go up,” Viswanathan told Business Standard.

TKM’s second plant, which has an existing capacity of 210,000 vehicles annually, will remain largely unutilised and stagnate at the current level of 30 per cent if the GST rate remains at an elevated level. “At this rate, we can never dream of expanding our capacity,” he said.

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Automobiles categorised as sin goods, attract 28 per cent GST– the highest slab. Vehicles with engines bigger than 2 litres and with a diesel powertrain attract higher duty, taking it beyond 43 per cent.

India’s auto industry, which accounts for 49 per cent of the manufacturing GDP, has been lobbying for a reduction in GST.

Viswanathan joins several others who have been batting for a rate cut. Earlier this month, at the auto industry’s annual conclave, Kenichi Ayukawa — managing director at Maruti Suzuki India — and several other executives made a strong pitch for a rate cut. They were assured by Cabinet ministers at the meet that the case would be put up before the finance minster.

Viswanathan added that the company’s product profile in the future will be hybrids. The rate cut, he added, will spur volumes and compensate for the loss of revenue. “We don’t have latitude to reduce prices. We have to make some margins,” he said.

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Following a Bloomberg report that Toyota does not plan to expand further in India, the company issued a statement.
Read our full coverage on Toyota Motor
First Published: Wed, September 16 2020. 01:25 IST

Will invest Rs 2\,000 crore in India: Toyota Kirloskar Motor chairman

Titans Sound Ready To Let Veteran Kicker Fix His Issues

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Titans Sound Ready To Let Veteran Kicker Fix His Issues

Tennessee Titans inside linebacker Rashaan Evans (54) leaves the field after being ejected during the first half of an NFL football game against the Denver Broncos, Monday, Sept. 14, 2020, in Denver. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey)

Tennessee Titans inside linebacker Rashaan Evans (54) leaves the field after being ejected during the first half of an NFL football game against the Denver Broncos, Monday, Sept. 14, 2020, in Denver. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey)

Mike Vrabel and the Tennessee Titans sound prepared to be patient with fourtime Pro Bowl kicker Stephen Gostkowski.

  • Last Updated: September 16, 2020, 1:42 AM IST

NASHVILLE, Tenn.: Mike Vrabel and the Tennessee Titans sound prepared to be patient with four-time Pro Bowl kicker Stephen Gostkowski.

Making the game-winning field goal certainly helps.

Gostkowski’s track record does too.

For a guy thats a career 87% field-goal kicker whos done it as long as he has, I think a lot of those corrections are going to be on him,” Vrabel said Tuesday hours after Gostkowski made a 25-yarder with 17 seconds remaining for a 16-14 win in Denver to open the season.

“But its also going to be about us in the operation and the ability for us to protect and the ability to make everything around him better and have a lot of faith and confidence in Stephen in moving forward.

The Titans thought they fixed their kicking woes by signing Gostkowski, the fifth-ranked kicker in NFL history on Sept. 3. Instead, the NFLs worst field-goal team in 2019 picked up where they left off after using five different kickers last season.

Gostkowski’s misses led to flashbacks to last October when Cairo Santos missed three field goals and had another blocked in a 14-7 loss to Buffalo. Gostkowski was wide right from 47 yards, had a 44-yarder blocked and yanked a 42-yarder wide left. Then he missed an extra point in the fourth quarter.

The Titans cut Santos after his misses.

Gostkowski said he thought he sped up after just missing the first field goal, which could be an easy fix of timing with practice. This also is a short week with the Titans returning home Tuesday morning with Jacksonville visiting Sunday. Testing protocols make quick roster changes much tougher.

After the missed extra point, Gostkowski also took off his right sock.

I practice without socks all summer so then I started putting them on, Gostkowski said. “I would have taken my pants off to make that last kick to try something different. I wasnt doing very well so I had to switch something up for mental sake. Its just a weird quirk I guess.

WHATS WORKING

The offense’s ability to score in the red zone and the two-minute offense. The Titans led the NFL in scoring on 75.6% of drives inside an opponent’s 20. They scored TDs on their first two drives, then got the game-winning field goal.

Tannehill led the Titans on three game-winning drives last season. He notched his fourth and 17th of his career against Denver. Tannehill completed his first five passes on the drive.

WHAT NEEDS HELP

The Titans ranked eighth last season for fewest penalties in the NFL and led the league for the fewest penalties in Vrabel’s debut season. They had four penalties for 33 yards in the first quarter before finishing with five.

Linebacker Rashaan Evans, their leading tackler last season, was ejected after an unsportsmanlike penalty when he swung his right hand at Denver tight end Jake Butt late in the first quarter.

STOCK UP

WR Corey Davis. The No. 5 pick overall in 2017 finds himself in a contract year after the Titans declined to pick up his fifth-year option. He had offseason toe surgery and appeared healthy with his best game since 2018. He caught seven of the eight passes thrown to him for 101 yards.

STOCK DOWN

Gostkowski. According to Next Gen Stats, the odds of the veteran kicker missing three field goals and an extra point were 1 in 1,804 or about 0.06%.

INJURED

The Titans put cornerback Adoree Jackson on injured reserve before the game, then veteran Johnathan Joseph hurt his right arm in the first quarter. LT Taylor Lewan left the game in the third quarter after hurting his right knee but returned.

KEY NUMBER

14-0 The Titans’ record when Derrick Henry runs for at least 100 yards. The NFL rushing leader of 2019 ran 31 times for 116 yards for a 3.7-yard average per carry.

NEXT STEPS

The Titans now will play four of their next five at home starting Sunday in their home opener against Jacksonville. Then there’s a trip to Minnesota before hosting Pittsburgh, Buffalo and Houston in October.

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Follow Teresa M. Walker at www.twitter.com/teresamwalker

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Will invest Rs 2\,000 crore in India: Toyota Kirloskar Motor chairman

UK Restores 3 Idols Stolen From Tamil Nadu Temple Back To India

UK Restores 3 Idols Stolen From Tamil Nadu Temple Back To India

The theft dates back to 1978 and led to an investigation by the Idol Wing of the Tamil Nadu Police working along with colleagues in the Metropolitan Police in London.

UK Restores 3 Idols Stolen From Tamil Nadu Temple Back To India

The UK-based collector behind the handover was described as a lover of Indian art and culture

London:

A set of three idols of Lord Rama, Sita and Lakshmana, stolen from a temple in Tamil Nadu decades ago, were restored to the Indian government on Tuesday after a collector voluntarily offered to hand it back on discovering their true history.

The theft dates back to 1978 and led to an investigation by the Idol Wing of the Tamil Nadu Police working along with colleagues in the Metropolitan Police in London.

The unnamed collector, who had acquired the statues in good faith, was informed about their dubious provenance by the Met Police.

After matching them up with archival photographs from the 1950s held at the French School in Pondicherry, it was proved that the idols in his possession were those belonging to the Vijayanagara period and stolen from Sri Rajagopalaswami Temple at Ananthamangalam in Nagapattinam district of Tamil Nadu.

In a ceremony streamed from India House in London in keeping with the limit on gatherings due to the COVID-19 restrictions, priests from Sri Murugan Temple in London conducted a short religious ceremony for their handover to India.

"Today marks the successful completion of the search and rescue operation of these very beautiful idols, which were consecrated and worshipped side by side for years. We wanted to ensure these deities were handled with due reverence and propriety before they are shipped back to India," said Indian High Commissioner to the UK Gaitri Issar Kumar.

"On behalf of the government of India, I hope this will inspire museums and collectors to carefully look and check their collections and help us restore deities that belong to the people of India and have been worshipped for centuries," she said.

The UK-based collector behind the handover, who has chosen to stay anonymous, was described as a lover of Indian art and culture.

Addressing the virtual event, officials from the state government of Tamil Nadu praised his voluntary intervention and expressed the hope that no further action will be taken against him.

"The voluntary handover of these idols highlight two enforcement issues: the need for effective communication and dialogue, and the proper documentation of all cultural heritage, which would not only act as a deterrent to thefts but also help as evidence without which the outcome of this case may have been very different," said Tim Wright, from the Metropolitan Police.

Minister of Culture and Tourism Prahlad Singh Patel, connecting virtually to the event from Delhi, welcomed the repatriation of the statues, which he said was among over 40 "priceless" stolen artefacts restored to India since 2014.

He also revealed that documentation from the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and other experts has been collated for the British Museum as part of efforts to seek the repatriation of another idol which belongs in India.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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