Mr. Satyakam Arya – CEO & Managing Director, Daimler India Commercial Vehicles Pvt. Ltd.
“The budget presented by the Finance Minister of India, Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman, reiterated the importance of Infrastructure development in the country. We are happy to see the proposal of government to invest Rs 100 lakh crore in infrastructure over next 5 years gives a great push to the development of the nation, complemented by initiatives such as BharatMala. This move not only will bridge the rural urban divide but will also have a positive impact on the commercial vehicle economy and in particular will give a boost to the tipper segment. In addition, the restructuring of the National Highway Programme is another welcome move that will create better national highways.
We welcome the initiatives rolled out to stimulate rural market and MSMEs, which are the backbone of the India economy and are getting their much-needed attention. This will generate consumption growth and demand at the grass root level, which will help all sectors of the economy.
In addition, the capital infusion into banks will boost lendings to NBFC and will put them in better health and this could help the CV industry. While we are pleased to see the emphasis and subsidies given to the development of Electric Vehicles for a pollution free India, a well-placed scrappage policy along with reduced GST rates would have been a welcome move and helped the auto economy to do better in a relatively slow year.
The additional excise duty of Re 2/ litre on petrol and diesel will amount to increased pressure for fleet operators. The industry is already is seeing an increase in capacity and poor offtake.
Overall, we at Daimler India Commercial Vehicle look forward for a beneficial new financial year.”