Difficult to convince parent firm for investment in India:Merc

Mercedes-Benz India today said it becomes difficult for the company to convince its parent organisation in Germany to invest in the country in the backdrop of recent directives such as the Supreme Court banning diesel vehicles above 2,000 cc and above in Delhi/NCR.
"When we go back to Germany and we want to convince them for further investments in India they are looking at these statements, court directives. It is hard to explain all this to them. It becomes more difficult (to get new investments) than it used to be," Mercedes-Benz India Managing Director and CEO Roland Folger told PTI.

Directives like ban on diesel vehicles, odd even formula and even taxation lead to insecurity in customers and thats "bad for the business", he added.
In December last year, the Supreme Court banned registration of diesel-run SUVs and cars having engine capacity beyond 2000 cc in Delhi and NCR till March 31, as it unveiled a slew of measures to curb the alarming rise in pollution levels in the city.
Mercedes-Benz and Tata Motors-owned JLR are the worst hit due to the order as their entire diesel model range is powered by engines above 2,000 cc.
After the order on banning the diesel vehicles was passed by the Supreme Court, Mercedes-Benz had warned that it would impact its future investments in India and will lead to job losses.

"This ban on diesel engines also creates an environment of uncertainty and will severely impact our expansion plans and future investments put in place for the Indian market," the company had said.

Recently, US biotechnology major Monsanto had warned of re-evaluating its presence in India and holding back new technology if the government cuts trait fee of Bt cotton seeds drastically through "arbitrary and potentially destructive" interventions.
In the Union Budget 2016-17, the government has proposed to slap a 4 per cent cess on higher engine capacity and SUVs as well as bigger sedans.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley also proposed to collect tax at source at the rate of 1 per cent on purchase of luxury cars exceeding value of Rs 10 lakh.