Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Are the farmers protesting since November 26 against the three farm laws passed by Parliament in September 2020, really “poor” as is being claimed by vested interests?
Unlikely. For, the tractor sales in December 2020 alone increased by 35.49 percent. Last month, the sales increased to 69,105 units compared to 51,004 in December 2019, according to the data released on Monday by the automobile dealers’ apex body, Federation of Automobile Dealers’ Association (FADA).
Most of the protesting farmers, camping with their tractors outside Delhi, are from prosperous states like Punjab and Haryana where the demand for tractors increased. Some farmers are also from neighboring Rajasthan and western Uttar Pradesh.
Commenting on how December 2020 performed, FADA President Vinkesh Gulati said, “Automobile registrations for the first time witnessed YoY growth in this Financial Year by growing 11% in the month of December. A good crop season, followed by better offers in the 2W segment, new launches both in PV as well as 2W, and fear of price increase in the month of January kept the demand going.
“Tractor continues to outshine supply for 6 straight months, further confirming the fact that Bharat carries on to lead India’s economic recovery”, he added.
That is, there was a waiting list for tractor buyers, as more tractors were being bought for six straight months in 2020 than the companies could supply!
The numbers, updated until January 9, 2021, do not include the tractors already sold but whose registration is still being processed.
Mahindra & Mahindra enjoyed more than 40 percent of the market share in tractor sales, followed by International Tractors (13.57 percent), TAFE (11.6 percent), Escorts (10.36 percent), John Deere (7.6 percent) and Eicher (6.38 percent), FADA said.
Not only tractors, sale of other vehicles also increased as the coronavirus-battered economy began to recover after lifting of restrictions. With public transport closed for months during a nationwide lockdown, and then opened with restrictions, the sale of private vehicles increased.
FADA, which collected registration data on January 9, 2021, from 1,270 out of 1,477 regional transport offices (RTOs), said passenger vehicle (PV) retail sales in December witnessed a year-on-year increase of 23.99 percent to 2,71,249 units, compared to 2,18,775 units in December 2019.
Two-wheeler sales increased 11.88 percent to 14,24,620 units last month, as compared to 12,73,318 units in December 2019.
However, commercial vehicle sales decreased 13.52 percent to 51,454 units in December 2020, as against 59,497 units a year ago.
Also, three-wheeler sales plummeted 52.75 percent to 27,715 units last month, from 58,651 in December 2019.
Total sales across categories increased 11.01 percent to 18,44,143 units last month compared to 16,61,245 in December 2019, FADA said.