FM Sitharaman Blames Millennials Mindset Of Using Ola, Uber For Auto Industry Crisis

In a recent press conference held earlier in the day, Sitharaman said that the mindsets of millennial were adversely affecting the automobile industry as they prefer to use radio taxi services instead of buying own vehicle.

The ongoing economic slowdown in the country has claimed the livelihood of lakhs of people. (Image: PTI)

New Delhi: Looks like questions pertaining to the slowdown of business industries have become tough to handle for Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, especially for the automobile sector which is reeling under massive pressure of sales dip. Justifying the visible slowdown in the sector, FM Sitharaman now thinks that it is the millennials who are the real reason behind the debacle in automobile sector. In a recent press conference held earlier in the day, Sitharaman said that the mindsets of millennial were adversely affecting the automobile industry as they prefer to use radio taxi services instead of buying own vehicle. "The automobile and components industry has been affected by BS6 and the mindsets of millennial, who now prefer to have Ola and Uber rather than committing to buying an automobile," said Sitharaman while addressing reporters. A data released by Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) stated that the overall domestic sales fell a record 23.55 per cent to 18,21,490 units in August 2019. Earlier today, Sitharaman had stated that the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken landmark steps in its second term for India to emerge as a five trillion-dollar economy in the next five years amid a domestic and global slowdown. On skidding sales and job losses in the automobile sector, the minister said that the government departments have been allowed to buy new vehicles. Automobiles purchased till March 31 next year can avail the benefit of additional depreciation of 15 per cent with total depreciation up to 30 per cent. Besides BS-IV vehicles bought till March 31, next year will remain operational for their entire registration period. The slowdown in auto sales also stems from a severe liquidity crunch in the non-banking financial sector which has dried up lines of credit to both auto dealers and potential car buyers. The auto industry accounts for nearly half of India's manufacturing output and employs over 3.5 crore people directly and indirectly. The ongoing economic slowdown in the country has claimed the livelihood of lakhs of people. New projects and investments have been put on hold, while a revival could take longer as investor confidence in companies cut a sorry picture at the exchanges. Data from the stock markets suggest that in just the past one year, the automobile and manufacturing companies, have seen over one-third of their share value getting eroded, on average, indicating a sharp decline in these companies' abilities to raise capital in the market.