New Delhi, September 9: Hours after the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) report -- which stated that overall passenger vehicle sales dropped by a significant 31.57 percent last month -- NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Rajiv Kumar asserted that Union Finance Ministry had announced a package to revive the ailing sector. Economic Crisis Grips Auto Sector Completely, Passenger Vehicle Sales in August Dip by 31.57% Vis-a-Vis 2018, Suffer Worst Drop in Over Two Decades.

Stating the plans of the Narendra Modi government to revive the automobile industry, Kumar said, "A whole package has been announced by the Finance Minister in the auto sector including accelerated appreciation & permission to keep selling BS4, that entire package should see recovery in the auto sector."

Earlier, reports arrived that the overall passenger vehicle sales dropped by a significant 31.57 percent last month with 1,96,524 units sold as compared to 2,87,198 units in August 2018. The passenger cars suffered a massive decline by 41.09 percent, selling 1,15,957 units as compared to 1,96,847 units in August 2018. Also, the condition of two-wheeler sales is a matter of concern, as it dipped 22.2 percent at 15.1 lakh units against August 2018.

Even the utility vehicle sales saw a decline of just 2.2 percent with 71,478 units sold compared to 73,085 units sold in August last year. While medium and heavy commercial vehicles sales down 54.3 percent at 15,573 units year over year (YoY). Also, the report notes that the Indian auto inc. sold 97,32,040 units of vehicles in August 2019 as compared to 1,15,70,401 units sold in August 2018, which is a decline of 15.89 percent. Economic Crisis Hits Automobile Sector: Tata Motors & Honda Lose Sales By Over 50% in August 2019; Here Are All The Details.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had addressed a series of press conferences in the past two weeks following the issue gained momentum. She had stated that the Finance Ministry is in talks with several sectors and hearing their concerns. She also mentioned that there the government is working to ensure that no job cuts take place amid an economic slowdown in the country.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 09, 2019 07:01 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).