<p><em>By Raghupati Singhania, Chairman & Managing Director, JK Tyre & Industries Limited,</em></p>.<p>The overall expectation from the Budget for the ensuing financial year is of fundamental growth ease of doing business by way of removal of bottlenecks in every aspect thereby unleashing the economy. The India growth story is poised at a critical point of inflection. The automotive sector, in the recent past, has been buffeted by strong headwinds. A simplified tax structure, new incentives for the auto and auto component sector are the need of the hour. Sustainable mobility needs to be facilitated. A vibrant automotive industry not only drives overall economic growth but also generates significant upstream and downstream employment. </p>.<p>The viability of the tyre industry in intertwined with economic demand and a healthy automotive sector. We reiterate the longstanding demand of the tyre industry to remove anti-dumping duties on various raw material imports and removing import duty on natural rubber to ensure a level playing ground. Domestically available natural rubber barely meets 50 per cent of the total demand and prices of this vital raw material are at 7 year high. This would contribute towards lowering the cost pressure on the tyre sector and lowering overall inflationary pressures as transportation and logistics costs are sky rocketing.</p>
<p><em>By Raghupati Singhania, Chairman & Managing Director, JK Tyre & Industries Limited,</em></p>.<p>The overall expectation from the Budget for the ensuing financial year is of fundamental growth ease of doing business by way of removal of bottlenecks in every aspect thereby unleashing the economy. The India growth story is poised at a critical point of inflection. The automotive sector, in the recent past, has been buffeted by strong headwinds. A simplified tax structure, new incentives for the auto and auto component sector are the need of the hour. Sustainable mobility needs to be facilitated. A vibrant automotive industry not only drives overall economic growth but also generates significant upstream and downstream employment. </p>.<p>The viability of the tyre industry in intertwined with economic demand and a healthy automotive sector. We reiterate the longstanding demand of the tyre industry to remove anti-dumping duties on various raw material imports and removing import duty on natural rubber to ensure a level playing ground. Domestically available natural rubber barely meets 50 per cent of the total demand and prices of this vital raw material are at 7 year high. This would contribute towards lowering the cost pressure on the tyre sector and lowering overall inflationary pressures as transportation and logistics costs are sky rocketing.</p>