The world’s largest auto parts’ maker, Bosch, plans to invest ₹1,000 crore in its Indian operations while Volvo India will invest ₹300 crore spread across the next two years.

Peter Tyroller, member, board of management of Robert Bosch, said that the company, which invested ₹650 crore last year, will pump in another ₹1,000 crore during 2016-17. “We will continue to expand our capacity in Karnataka,” Tyroller, who was at the Invest Karnataka meet, said. Volvo India Managing Director, Kamal Bali, told BusinessLine that the company plans to invest ₹300 crore over the next two years. “We are now positioned in the right segments in the Indian economy, especially those which are growing. These sectors will grow in double digits,” Bali said.

With this new investment, Volvo plans to hire 15-20 per cent more employees from its existing 2,500 employees. He said Volvo India will soon start exporting school buses from its manufacturing centre to Western Europe.

Bali said the implementation of GST will be the key growth driver for the country.

“GST has much wider implications. It is much beyond tax reforms. It will make India one unified market and there will be no physical borders when it comes transportation of goods,” he said.

He pointed out that nearly 30-40 per cent of “our trucks” are idle. According to an estimate, the cost of logistics in India is roughly 13 per cent of the country’s GDP versus the global average of 8 per cent. It means 5 per cent of the GDP results in extra inefficiency in the system. It could translate to $100 billion which is going waste. So the GST will ensure that all taxes like entry tax and octroi, get subsumed into one.”

He said the government should simplify legislation of indirect taxes, especially customs, so that everyone interprets it properly. “Otherwise, you might end up with a tax demand after 10 years,” he said.

He also wanted the government to pump up the economy by increasing public spend on infrastructure.

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