Rajiv Dube , president of Tata Motors’ passenger car divi-sion, in New Delhi on Thursday. Picture by Ramakant Kushwaha

New Delhi, Oct. 4: Flagging growth rates in auto and realty have stoked slowdown fears among corporate honchos.

The health alert on the economy was sounded by a senior executive of one of India Inc’s leading lights, Tata Motors.

Rajiv Dube, president of Tata Motors, blamed the situation on the government.

“This has happened because of a macroeconomic intervention. There has been a conscious intervention by the government to slow down demand, especially in the auto and real estate segment,” he said.

Both auto and realty have a web of links with other sectors; if they falter, the repercussions permeate the rest of the economy.

The government and the Reserve Bank of India have taken many steps to check demand and stop overheating of the economy.

Dube said: “For most part of the (auto) industry it has been a tough year. When the SIAM data (for September) is officially released you’ll notice that the growth is down to single digits for the first time.”

He said the auto growth in this fiscal was largely driven by new products.