Manesar trouble political: Bhargava

Chairman of embattled auto-major Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, RC Bhargava said on Thursday that the ongoing labour strike at MSIL's Manesar plant is a 'political problem' and 'does not emanate from any issue that labourers are facing'.

'In the last 30 years we have built a tradition of looking after our employees and they in turn have looked after the company,' he told shareholders at the annual general meeting of MSIL. 'We will not compromise on this.'

About the dip in sales in recent months, he said, 'I would urge you not to be unduly concerned. A good year of high growth will invariably be followed by a dip in sales.'

He said he expects sales to improve during the festive season, adding that the company's 'Gurgaon and Manesar plants alone with have 1.7 million unit production capacity by 2015.'

About fuel pricing, he said 'Fuel policy for the automobiles is not clear yet. The price differential between diesel and petrol of R24 results in huge demand in favour of diesel'.

'It requires large investment to make diesel engines. Some people in the government talk about dual pricing of diesel and others about additional tax for diesel cars. We wait for some policy pronouncement,' he said.