DC Edit | BMW Fleet For Lokpal Stirs Fury
The wood is being missed for the trees in the Lokpal’s mobility aspirations because the brand of cars they are seeking — BMW Series 3 — is made in India as much as many of the other cars that automobile manufacturers based in the country produce
In floating a tender to buy seven luxury BMW cars for its members, the anti-corruption ombudsman has stirred a hornet’s nest. Politicians have had a field day mocking the Lokpal, a readymade target since it can never be a popular institution with its target group comprising public functionaries, including the Prime Minister, Union and state ministers and MPs.
The wood is being missed for the trees in the Lokpal’s mobility aspirations because the brand of cars they are seeking — BMW Series 3 — is made in India as much as many of the other cars that automobile manufacturers based in the country produce. It is the luxury factor that may set the marque brand apart from many other SUVs, MUVs and sedans that are made in India from mostly Indian components though in a globalised world of car making there can never be a car made only from local components.
It is the equality of status factor that may be driving the Lokpal’s aspiration because the institution is made up of former Supreme Court judges who would like to emulate their brethren still serving on the bench and who are eligible for this class of car. The luxury factor falls foul of more than the Swadeshi argument because there are any number of vehicles made in India by the likes of Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, Mahindra, Nissan and myriad others that offer comparable driving quality and comfort at half the price of a luxury German-engineered (in India) vehicle like the BMW.
In fact, a great pride of India is the quality of its cars that are competitively priced and sell like hot cakes in over 65 countries. Maruti Suzuki, in collaboration with a Japanese car maker and Hyundai, owned by a Korean chaebol, have been exporting quality cars for years now. The manufacturers have also had a field day in the domestic market after the GST rate drop since when cars have been zooming out of showrooms as an aspirational India aims at SUVs and middle-level sedans, both internal combustion and electric-driven.
Politicians can snigger at the Lokpal, the guardians of integrity, a quality which can be said to be fast disappearing, particularly in that class of citizens, but their scorn should be directed at the profligacy of Rs 70 lakhs per vehicle in lesser GST days. And however luxurious the make of car, Indian roads have a way of equalising the ride.
