TVS Motor plans Rs 300-crore capital expenditure amid Covid-19 pandemic

TVS Motor said it had lined up a capital expenditure of Rs 300 crore and was looking to invest Rs 75 crore in TVS Credit Services in 2020-21.

The company said it was planning to commercialise some of the intellectual properties (IPs) to be built by start-ups through the company’s Singapore subsidiary.

TVS Motor Chairman and Managing Director Venu Srinivasan expected the second quarter to be much better, but he cautioned on how the rest of the year would pan out as more cities were closing due to growing number of Covid-19 cases.

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“It will be very difficult to make an assessment about the coming year even beyond a quarter,” he said. Gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to decelerate to around (-) 5 per cent for the year and the impact of Covid will continue for some time to come, he said.

“We are looking at a year where sales drop will be one of the biggest in the Indian industry, be it automotive or engineering manufacturing industry,” said Srinivasan.

He said the market was opening up gradually after the lockdown and the firm looked to overcome supply chain problem in Q2.