Apollo Hospitals' Kamineni wishes auto industry a 'soft landing' like Chandrayaan-2

CII former president and Executive Vice-Chairperson of Apollo Hospitals group Shobana Kamineni on Friday hoped the automobile industry will have a soft landing like Chandrayaan-2 from the "terrifying descent" in the past one year. Speaking at the annual convention of the Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA), she drew parallels between the slowdown in the auto sector with touchdown by India's ambitious lunar mission Chandrayaan-2 later tonight and hoped that the industry will emerge prosperous from the current situation.

ISRO Chairman K Sivan has described as "the most terrifying 15 minutes" of the Chandrayaan-2 journey when it attempts to land on the moon. Quoting Sivan, she said "in those 15 minutes, the Chandrayaan will have to decelerate from 6 km per second to 7 km per hour. So, you know you are going from 30-40 times the speed of a plane to a feather landing for it to create a soft landing".

Kamineni further said, "Coming here, I thought you people (auto industry) are really in that situation. In this last year, it has been a terrifying descent and I am confident that you will have a soft landing and from that soft landing, you will continue to prosper." Terming the Indian automotive industry as the backbone of the Indian manufacturing sector, she said, "There is a lot riding on you."

She asked the government for more steps to help "unlock strategies for investment, to boost consumer demand" that can help India become a USD 5-trillion economy. For the industry as a whole, she said "lowering of tax rates, simplification of tax procedures will be central to growth".

Issues such as labour reforms, land availability, access to credit of MSME, and export sector need to be addressed, Kamineni said.

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