SIAM’s 52nd Annual Convention focuses on India's growth-centric initiatives

The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) organised its 52nd Annual Convention focussing on the Auto Industry: India in the Changing World Order. Union Minister of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises Praful Patel was the Chief Guest. S. Sandilya, President, SIAM welcomed the guests and delegates present in the convention. S. Sandilya spoke on the resilience of the Indian automotive industry in the year gone by, addressing challenges such as inflation, high interest rates and rapid hikes in petrol prices. He referenced subdued industry growth which leads to successive downward SIAM revisions in sales forecast. While 2012-2013 Q1 growth in the passenger vehicles reached 9.71pc, the fall in the heavy goods carrier SIAM Annual Convention 2012 saw global automotive industry leaders, speakers and policy makers from government sharing the same dais to address the dynamics of managing growth in all sector dip into negative territory (with Q1 decline of 17.88pc), he drew a parallel to this sector's 2008 performances. He also addressed the government's taxation policies on the sector. "While on the subject of industry performance, I must point out that the vehicle industry is the most highly taxed industry in the country. If we add up all the Central and State Taxes, the overall tax burden on cars ends up being as high as 62pc for small cars and a whopping 82pc for large cars." Speaking on the high taxes on petrol, he stated: "Personal mobility in the country would perhaps be carrying the highest tax burden in the country, as compared to any other engineering product or service." Addressing the need for an appropriate level of taxation on mobility, he stated: "The people of India deserve to pay less for their mobility which also makes a huge contribution to economic development and growth" Praful Patel, spoke on the need to pursue a healthy rate of growth. “From an India perspective, until we grow at 8-9 percent, I don't think we can ever be satisfied with the rate of growth of the economy." He spoke about the Electric Mobility Plan and the implementation of the Automotive Mission Plan 2006-2016in creating and executing a viable road map for the industry till 2016 and beyond, citing the ministry of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises’ investments in setting up new facilities to provide centres of excellence in various key cutting edge areas. He also echoed the industry sentiments against the diesel tax.