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Ambarish Mukherjee

New Delhi March 28 German auto major BMW would be investing more than Rs 1,000 crore for its Indian operation in the short run and sees India as a major growth market, particularly in the high-end car segment.

The Global Chairman of BMW, Mr Nobert Reithofer, on Wednesday met the Minister of State for Industries, Mr Ashwini Kumar, to apprise him of the company's India plans. BMW would be inaugurating its plant in Chennai on Thursday.

RTO delay

Though the company is planning to sell its cars immediately, they are having some problem with the Road Transport Office (RTO) in Chennai and is unable to get registration numbers.

"BMW representatives said that there is delay in getting the numbers because there is a severe backlog in the RTO office there, which may cause delay in the roll out of vehicles," Mr Kumar told Business Line after the meeting.

"They have said that according to their estimates, the luxury car segment (Rs 50 lakh and above) is likely to double in the next five to 10 years. As of now the total number of units would remain in the proximity of 5,000 per annum but it would reach 10,000 or even more in the next five to 10 years," he said.

Electronic hardware gain

Mr Reithofer also informed the Minister that 65 per cent of the technical excellence of BMW can be attributed to the superior electronic hardware used by the company.

"The presence of BMW would also significantly contribute to the development of the electronic hardware sector, one area where India lags behind most other countries," Mr Kumar said.

The Minister, who is also a member of the National Manufacturing Competition Council (NMCC) said that "according to NMCC's estimates, by 2050 India's highest import bill will not be on account of oil but on account of electronics hardware. So planned growth in this sector has been put as one of the priority areas by the NMCC."

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