By IANS,
New Delhi : “Growth with responsibility” will be the mantra of new SIAM(Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers) President Pawan Goenka who took charge of the organisation Friday.
“The auto sector should grow but with responsibility. We are all aware that the industry can lead to a lot of things like pollution, climate change, road safety among other issues,” Goenka told the media.
The Mahindra and Mahindra (automotive sector) president succeeded outgoing SIAM president Ravi Kant.
“We should have minimal impact,” he said, adding that the country’s carbon dioxide norm was in place.
The sector has been one of the worst hit due to a global slowdown with commodity prices soaring and a slump in demand.
Goenka, however, is optimistic that one bad year does not mean the end of the road and predicts the growth rate of the industry to be 15-16 percent.
“The sector has to grow 15-16 percent in order to reach the growth outlined by the Automotive Mission Plan (AMP) 2006,” he said.
The Automotive Mission Plan 2006 aims at doubling the contribution of the automotive sector in GDP (gross domestic product) by taking the turnover to $145 billion in 2016, with a special emphasis on the export of small cars, multiple utility vehicles (MUVs), two wheelers and auto components.
In the last four months, the industry has suffered severe losses globally, with companies like General Motors declaring bankruptcy. “However, India and China are the only markets that remained profitable,” Goenka said.
Achieving even 15-16 percent growth is not easy, he said. “There has been a turnaround in the industry. The availability of finance and commodity prices coming down are some of the examples.”
So does a drought dent the growth of the industry? “It will not have an effect in our growth till November. This is the time when the rabi crop comes out, we have to wait till then to see its impact,” he said.