Volkswagen in damage control mode

In a major damage control initiative Volkswagen's special envoy Frank Elbe Botschafter on Friday met several senior government officials including commerce and industry minister Kamal Nath and assured the Centre of its intention to invest in India.

Speaking to Business Standard after meeting Botschafter said, "We wanted to shed some light on our plans for investing in India and restate our commitment."

Confirming that the company was still looking at Andhra Pradesh to set up its production unit, Elbe said it had invited the state government to visit their plant in Germany in the next 3-4 weeks to finalise the plans for investment in India.

Asked about the Rs 11 odd crore (about Rs 110 million) which VW owes the AP government, Botschafter said, "the matter is under investigation ".

The proposed project had run into a major controversy after revelation that state government funds were channeled into a dummy private company fraudulently.