One Of The Reasons For Slump In Auto Sector: Nitin Gadkari Defends Sitharaman's Millennial Remark

Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday defended her colleague and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, whose remark that millennials are responsible for the unprecedented slump in the auto industry drew a flak from the Opposition as well as people. Gadkari said that while global economy, demand and business cycle were the issues hampering the auto industry, millennial mindset was also one of the reasons.

“It is one of the reasons affecting automobile sector. Somewhere because of global economy, business cycle and because of demand and supply, there is a problem,” news agency ANI quoted Gadkari as saying.

He also assured that the government was considering “lot of things” for the auto industry and expressed confidence that the sector will be out of the crisis in the due course of time. He, however, didn’t elaborate how long the redemption process will take.

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"Govt is with the industry. It is an employment provider and at the same time, has a great contribution in growth rate. Finance Ministry and my ministry are seriously considering a lot of things for them. I'm confident that in due course of time, the (automobile) sector is going to reform," the transport minister added.

On Tuesday, the finance minister had said that the ‘millennial mindset’ of preferring app-based cab hailing services such as Ola and Uber along with the BS6 vehicles, was the reason behind the unprecedented slump in the automobile industry.

The Opposition Congress criticised Sitharaman for her statement, terming it a grave joke on the economy and the country. She was also ridiculed on Twitter for her rather bizarre excuse that the ‘millennial mindset’ of preferring app-based cab hailing services caused the unprecedented downturn in the auto sector.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Sitharaman held millennials using Ola and Ubar responsible for slump in auto sector.
• She was criticised by Opposition Congress for cracking a "grave joke on economy".
• Nitin Gadkari defended her and said that it was indeed one of the many reasons.