Centre must usher in reforms: Bhargava
CHANGE AGENT Govt knows challenges faced by local manufacturers, needs to boost their competitiveness, says Maruti Suzuki chairman
NEWDELHI: The government needs to do more to mitigate the hardships faced by local manufacturers and buffer them from the consequences of the unprecedented challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd chairman RC Bhargava said.
Addressing the company’s annual general meeting on Wednesday, Bhargava said the government is aware of the constraints faced by businesses and the steps that are needed to boost the competitiveness of the domestic industry.
“Manufacturing-sector growth is something which we have been attempting for the last 70 years. But we have unfortunately not reached the desired growth levels and the kind of condition which is required to have that growth in all these 70 years,” Bhargava told shareholders of Maruti Suzuki, the country’s largest carmaker. The Indian economy is expected to shrink at its sharpest pace since Independence as the world’s third-highest Covid-19 caseload forces local authorities to opt for sporadic lockdowns to curb the spread of the virus, disrupting production and other economic activities.
While Maruti Suzuki has coped with the crisis better than its rivals, it has still posted its first quarterly loss in a decade in the three months ended June 30 as plants continued to operate below capacity because of Covid-related disruptions and weak demand.
“One has to understand the various constraints that apply to a democracy like us. The steps which any government will take have to be consistent with all the factors of the country, not just whatever is required for manufacturing and then ignore all the other factors,” he added.
“I believe the pandemic is creating greater awareness among all the people in the country— that this is the time to make radical changes in the way we do our work,” Bhargava said. “This is the time when we should take steps which should lead to much faster growth of the economy, which means much faster growth of manufacturing. And I believe this is possible, but it does require all of us to do things that are quite apparent. So, my approach to this is to say that all of us should understand the changes that are required, to participate and support the government policies, bringing about those changes and make India a more competitive manufacturing country.”