R C Bhargava, chairman of Maruti Suzuki, talks to Swaraj Baggonkar on the sidelines of the Make in India week about expansion and holding diesel responsible for pollution.
Excerpts.
Are capacity constraints coming up for Maruti Suzuki?
There may be some temporary shortages.
Around this time next year, we should be commissioning the first unit in the Gujarat plant and we are taking some measures in Gurgaon to increase production till that happens.
How much will your production increase next year?
Our target for 2015-16 was 1.4-1.5 million.
We should be finishing somewhere close to that.
Next year, we will be getting to almost 1.6 million, or maybe a little below that.
Is Suzuki talking to the Haryana government for a new plant?
It is between Suzuki and the Haryana government.
I don't think we are creating any more car manufacturing facilities anywhere at this time.
What are the talks about then?
We are still working out the implication of this diesel policy on demand and whether you need more petrol engine capacities in what have been planned.
That is still to be worked out fully.
Diesel is coming under scrutiny.
Where are automobile companies headed from here?
With Euro 6, diesel is as good as any other fuel.
Euro 5 lags behind because the state-run oil companies did not invest in upgrading.
So it is being delayed.
But, as happens in most such things, somebody does something and somebody else bears the consequences.
That is what is happening here also.
Do you feel diesel is being unjustly targeted?
If you look at the contribution of diesel to the particulate emission in Delhi, it is being unfairly targeted.
What is your estimate for industry growth?
We have not done budgeting yet for the coming year.
But, if double-digit (growth) is not possible, then maybe we should be able to do nearly 8-9 per cent.
