Slowdown will catch up with motorcycle sales: Rajiv Bajaj

There is a possibility of the duty entitlement pass book (DEPB) scheme being withdrawn, according to reports coming in that the finance minister is against prolonging the scheme.

Rajiv Bajaj, MD, Bajaj Auto and HS Goindi of TVS Motor spoke to CNBC-TV18 about the impact this move could have on two-wheeler stocks. Below is a verbatim transcript of his interview with CNBC-TV18's Udayan Mukherjee and Mitali Mukherjee. For the complete details watch the accompanying videos. Q: If indeed the DEPB scheme were to be withdrawn, what kind of impact would it have on your earnings? Bajaj: The impact would be significant because our exports are almost USD 1 billion a year. This is not new. Every year we hear around April that the finance ministry may consider toning down or in some way discontinuing the scheme but eventually the commerce ministry does understand how important it is to support exporters, specifically, in terms of automobiles and motorcycles. China is very aggressive on this front. The DEPB export benefit is even higher in double digits, sometimes closer to 13-15%. In the face of that, it