Anurag Thakur, MoS, Finance and Corporate Affairs, was caught off guard when he asked a gathering of component manufacturers about the reason for the auto slowdown. "What are the key reasons for the slowdown or is it just cyclical?" he asked.
To his question, someone from the audience immediately replied saying, "This is the delayed effect of demonetisation sir. People don’t have the money." The moderator immediately asked the person to maintain decorum and not interrupt the minister.
This happened during the 59th annual convention of Automobile Component Manufacturers Association (ACMA). Surprised for a second, Thakur asked, "Thank you but if that is the delayed effect then how do you move ahead from here?" Choosing to ignore the comment, the minister tried to lighten up the grim mood owing to the prolonged slowdown.
He said the government is fully backing the auto industry and the upcoming Diwali would be good for everyone.
But Minister of State for Heavy Industries Arjun Ram Meghwal chose to pull up the industry executive who interrupted Thakur. He said, “The sardarji was saying the slowdown is because of demonetisation. This is an economic reform, sir. This is how we became a 3 trillion dollar economy. How much cash you will keep? Do you want to run a parallel economy? There will be no parallel economy under the Modi government”.
Both the ministers said that a positive word needs to go to the customer and indicated that the government was looking at the possibility of a GST reduction.
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