GST roll out top priority for Swedish companies investing in India

Early implementation of GST and the need to adopt a full-life cycle approach while deciding tenders are the two key elements on top of the wish-lists of Swedish companies investing in India.

“Swedish companies like SCA, Ikea and H&M are looking forward for GST roll out, while truck and bus maker Scania is keen for changes in the tenders floated by State and Central Governments,” Jonas Hafstrom, Swedish ambassador and special advisor to the minister for trade told BusinessLine .

Hafstrom is currently leading a Swedish transport delegation to tour India and explore various transport infrastructure projects to invest and partner with the State and Central Government.

Hafstrom said “I visit India with a delegation of Swedish companies in the transport sector to find long term, sustainable partners. Swedish companies are innovative and strive for quality products with good cycle of profit for the customers.”

The delegation which commenced its tour from Bangalore met Karnataka Government officials and is later expected to travel to Ahmedabad and New Delhi.

The Swedish transport delegation gave a detailed presentation to Government of Karnataka on workable models like Ericsson’s technology for smart cities and smart transportation. Gunnebo displayed its secure transport solution. Scania in its presentation displayed its demo project of converting municipal waste, including slaughter house waste, to bio fuels to run its buses and trucks.

Currently the Karnataka Government has offered us projects like providing mobility for Bangalore, improving efficiency of public transport in tier II towns and cities, conversion of waste to energy for transport by converting municipal waste to gas, and traffic safety and management.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who chaired the Indo-Swedish meet, said, “Cities are shaped by their transport systems. While transport enables the economy to grow, if it is not well-managed, it could impede growth and impact quality of life. Sustainability, to my mind, is the ability of a city to meet the mobility and accessibility needs of its citizens with minimal impacts on environment.”

He further added that “Minimizing waste has been a part of our ethos. Modern lifestyles demand adoption of practices, which promote greater degree of re-using and re-cycling material. I learn that Sweden has been able to manage waste with better and safe technologies and 99 per cent of waste generated including waste water is recycled in one way or the other. I hope that we could learn and benefit from Sweden's experience and expertise in this regard.”

Harald Sandberg, ambassador of Sweden to India, said, “Sweden and India share a long and successful history of cooperation in transport sector through Volvo and now Scania. Technology development and innovation are key cornerstones in our partnerships.”