Toyota Kirloskar Motor, the Indian joint venture of one of the world’s biggest automobile makers, has clarified that it is not exiting India and continues “to be committed to the Indian market". "Our operations in the country is an integral part of our global strategy,” said an official.
This followed Toyota Kirloskar’s vice chairman Shekar Viswanathan announcing that the company was halting all expansion plans in India because of high taxes that made it difficult for companies to build scale. “The message we are getting, after we have come here and invested money, is that we don’t want you," Viswanathan was quoted in a Bloomberg report.
However, as the interview hit news waves and was quickly billed as a blow to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Atma Nirbhar Bharat’ (self reliant India) push, the company came out with a statement making it clear that it was not exiting India, but only trying to leverage the existing capacities. It also referred to its tie-up with Suzuki in India as an example of its commitment to the ‘Make in India’ initiative.
“We need to protect the jobs we have created and we will do everything possible to achieve this. Over our two decades of operations in India, we have worked tirelessly to build a strong competitive local supplier ecosystem and develop strong capable human resources. Our first step is to ensure full capacity utilisation of what we have created and this will take time,” the statement said.
Having made its point, the statement also reinforced the vice-chairman’s comments on the problem of high taxes in India. “In wake of the slowdown that has been exaggerated by the COVID-19 impact, the auto industry has been requesting the government for support to sustain industry through a viable tax structure. We remain confident that the government will do everything possible to support industry and employment,” it said, adding that the company appreciated that the government was open to re-examining the tax structure.
