Next Government Should Focus On Ease Of Doing Business: Bajaj Auto MD Rajiv Bajaj | CNBC TV18

[Music] welcome back you are watching our exclusive interview with Rajiv Bajaj the managing director of Bajaj Auto at the launch of the NS 400z Pulsa the biggest Pulsa yet the iconic motorcycle from the Bajaj Auto brand uh hybrids are a very interesting technology we've seen Tesla sales slowing down globally everyone is now talking about hybrid uh is that something that you're looking at uh closely or does that make you uh feel in anything about the electric vehicle ecosystem there was a lot of excitement but there is uh now a certain amount of introspection so to say within the industry as well my own view par is for the kind of two wheelers we make and three-wheelers we make which can be largely called as inra City vehicles I think electric is the right solution because uh you know you don't have to travel long distances uh there's no air conditioning you're not going to be caught in a snowstorm somewhere and run out of charge uh so you don't have to worry about the charging Network Etc so to do 20 30 40 50 km a day on a two wheeler or even 100 200 km a day today our electric three-wheelers have a range of 150 km um uh and it will only get better so I think people go home or come to their place of work and charge Etc so I think with two and three wheelers by and large um I don't see uh so strongly at least the relevance of hybrids but yes I do feel and frankly although I'm not part of that industry directly I'm very perplexed as to why in India hybrid cars are not more popular than they are and why they're not supported uh just as EV cars are because quite clearly it's going to take a long time uh before consumers are comfortable with a EV car with a range of just 500 or 700 km you know because for that one occasion uh when you may need to go further or you may get caught somewhere uh what do you do so I think uh hybrid is uh very very relevant very sensible the it's going to take forever to cover this country with a charging Network you know I mean I don't think it's going to ever happen it may happen in some cities selectively but uh I really don't know why hybrid is not uh uh having a stronger support than it does uh in this market right uh you've uh been very vocal about uh the need for a GST reduction and all your competitors have been how much is it hurting you with all the regulatory costs right now now and would that be your key demand from the government post elections well it's a demand that I placed if I can call it a demand before the FM even last time um and simply because if you compare us with the major uh two-wheeler or motorcycle markets in latam or asan you know the equivalent of GST there is anywhere between 8 and 14% I think so for it to be 28% here uh you know just makes no sense let me say it as simply as that and especially when uh recent uh regulatory requirements including those pertaining to bs6 and abs uh breaking Norms have as it is driven up cost so much you know um and we can see the motorcycle industry has not come back to the to its preo size so I I would have thought that it makes imminent sense as much as the government has taken such a positive step with electric vehicles making it 5% uh you know the GST I would have thought that uh some temp in of GST if not for petrol vehicles at least for relatively clean fuels like CG so today you know S I believe has made a plea to the government again that uh for CNG two wheelers why don't you consider uh 12% or 18% as GST so I think uh it's entirely logical I would not call it as a crutch or a subsidy or a sop I would say it's just simply a matter of being competitive you right this has been a very volatile election uh over the last few months would would you have any one key expectation in terms of business confidence or where you want to see India going after this election gets over Parish I would say this that first let me tell you what I have felt or experienced let's say in the last 10 years of of this government I would say um the headline for me would be that there is no significant change you know I have nothing with which to significantly criticize the government I am not really motivated to significantly uh comment them or praise them uh because at least from a Bajaj Auto or Auto industry point of view U I have no reason to do that you know um and I don't say that in a bad way you know I'm simply saying that uh business is our job um and the government's only job is to make it easier to do business you know and in that sense I would say that um there's been nothing significantly positive but there will be nothing significantly negative but there are things that could be better let me just give you a example to illustrate of every 100 tires that Bajaj consumes only one and a half uh is imported you know just 1.5% in this particular case because nobody in India is willing to develop the tire it's a very low volume highs spec racing tire for the KTMs when we import such tires from pelli whose plant happens to to be in China we are making a motorcycle which employs a lot of people in the process of its making and we are exporting it uh very proudly uh as a make in India Flagship product to the most developed countries in the world uh where that KTM motorcycle is on the racetracks uh you know uh and people are paying 6 7,000 for that now today we have to approach the government every 6 months to get approval for these 1 and a half% equivalent tires that that we have to import I mean that's a lot of wasted time and finally after having got such approvals for some time uh we were recently uh rejected you know so now we can't get this tire so either we have to find a way to get it developed which I don't think is easy uh or we have to simply not export such motorcycles so I my only submission to the government will be that in every possible way just focus on the ease of doing business and leave the business to us you know um baj a global company uh with uh exports being almost half its production even before this government came we didn't need slans like make in India or you know take atbar bhat uh to Enlighten us and awaken us you know I think we were doing it out of our own self of sense of motivation and and desire to grow but uh if there can be greater ease of business going forward that's all that a business person would ask for all right so that's the message from Rajiv Bajaj to politicians focus on eer doing business and let the businessmen do their business that's all we have time for on this uh special exclusive interview thank you for watching and goodbye [Music]

Channel: CNBC-TV18

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Id: lPEO-4sdiiA

Length: 7min 15sec (435 seconds)

Published: Sat May 04 2024