Infra spending to increase to help auto industry, says Nitin Gadkari

Nitin Gadkari. Pic/Twitter IANS

On Thursday, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said that the Central government is expected to take some policy decisions and come up with some major road infrastructure projects in order to arrest the sales downturn being faced by the Indian automobile industry. Gadkari, who was speaking at the annual convention of the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) acknowledge the fact that the sector was presently facing a sales downturn due to several factors such as high GST rates, farm distress, stagnant wages, and liquidity constraints.

The Minister of Road Transport and Highways and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises said that in order to address the issues, the government is expected to award road projects worth Rs 5 lakh crore in the coming months. He also said that the new construction projects would generate a demand for automobile construction equipment such as trucks, reports news agency IANS.

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The auto industry body has sought efforts from the government, including a reduction in GST rates in order to help them to fight the crisis. The industry has been reeling under stress for some time now with regards to the declining sales trend. Besides the sales trend, the inventory pile-up and stock management of unsold BS-IV vehicles have also added to the problems in the automobile sector.

With inputs from IANS

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