Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi
New Delhi, Aug 9: Maruti Suzuki India Ltd Chairman RC Bhargava has urged the Centre and state governments to accelerate economic reforms and step up efforts to make doing business easier, while calling on all political parties to support reforms and programmes aimed at creating wealth.
In his message to shareholders in the company's annual report for 2025-26, Bhargava said the government and Opposition should ensure that additional resources generated through economic growth are used to create a more equitable and just society.
“Faster creation of wealth, in the most efficient manner, is the only way that India can make up for the time that we have lost,” he said, citing the automobile sector as an example of how competitive industries can create large employment opportunities.
Bhargava urged the government, including state governments, to move faster on reforms and increase efforts to make doing business easier. He also called for greater use of technology, saying it can reduce corruption and delays and save time and production costs.
He further urged the government to “trust the private sector and the power of competition”.
“My request to all political parties is to support reforms and programmes that create wealth. The government and the opposition should ensure that the additional resources that would be generated would be used to create a more equitable and just society,” he said.
Bhargava said the Indian economy continues to perform well despite the Iran-US war, which has adversely affected most global economies, and remains the fastest-growing among larger countries.
He also said GST collections had remained buoyant despite tax rates being reduced on more than 90 per cent of products and reached new highs. He credited GST reforms for helping the economy perform well during difficult months.
“Without GST reforms we may not have done so well in the difficult months that have elapsed,” he said, while congratulating Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Finance Minister and other members of the government.
On the passenger vehicle industry, Bhargava said Maruti Suzuki was reassessing its long-term targets following the growth seen after GST 2.0. The company currently estimates that India's car industry could grow to 6.1-6.3 million units by FY31, with the small-car segment expected to grow significantly faster than it did over the past five years.
Following the implementation of the new GST rates on September 22, 2025, Maruti Suzuki's retail sales grew 17 per cent in the second half of the year, he said. The company ended March 2026 with 1.9 lakh pending bookings due to inadequate manufacturing capacity for models in high demand.
Bhargava said the situation resulted from production adjustments made over several years to accommodate declining small-car sales and the growing SUV market. The company is now making its new production lines flexible enough to switch between platforms and models depending on demand.
The strategy is already showing results, he said, with Maruti Suzuki's sales growing 38 per cent in the first quarter of FY27, compared with 28 per cent growth for the industry.
Small-car sales grew 17 per cent in the second half of the previous year and accelerated to 35 per cent in the first quarter of FY27 as the company was able to produce more of the models sought by customers.
On clean technology, Bhargava reiterated Maruti Suzuki's view that India needs to adopt multiple technologies to achieve its net-zero goal.
He said biogas could be produced in large quantities from locally available resources and could substitute imported CNG while providing a clean and renewable energy source with zero import content.
He also highlighted potential benefits from fermented organic manure generated during biogas production, saying it could improve soil quality and agricultural productivity.
According to Bhargava, greater use of biogas could also help prevent crop burning, protect soil microbes, increase farmers' incomes and promote mechanisation in harvesting and field preparation.
Maruti Suzuki has been working with the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, Pusa, for the past two years on the subject, and Bhargava said its preliminary report was consistent with the company's assessment.
Referring to the government's GOBARdhan scheme to promote compressed biogas production, he said Maruti Suzuki's board had approved the setting up of four biogas plants in the first phase at a cost of Rs 561 crore.
“Once we have learnt more about the process and technology, we hope to invest substantial amounts of money in the production and distribution of biogas,” Bhargava said, adding that it could provide zero-emission fuel while reducing pressure on CNG and coal-based electricity generation.