Rahul Bajaj on Government Relations

From 1950 to 1990 Indian industrial growth was throttled by government quotas and approval regimes; a factory was legally permitted to produce only a fixed number of units each month regardless of multi-year waiting lists. Bajaj repeatedly petitioned Delhi to raise Bajaj Auto's manufacturing cap, arguing on economic, moral and employment grounds, but bureaucrats kept the ceilings in place for years.

In 1971 the Indira Gandhi government declined to extend the international collaboration agreement between Piaggio and Bajaj, abruptly severing Bajaj's access to Vespa technology and tooling. The forced decoupling pushed Bajaj Auto to design and manufacture an indigenous scooter — a geopolitical shock that unintentionally seeded the Chetak and the 'Hamara Bajaj' brand identity.

Bajaj was elected to the Rajya Sabha, India's upper house of Parliament, for the 2006–2010 term, filling the seat vacated by the death of BJP leader Pramod Mahajan. The move positioned him as an industry voice inside the legislature at a time when the UPA government was drafting key manufacturing and FDI policy, and he remained an outspoken commentator on policy even after his term ended.

Bajaj served as president of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) twice — in 1979–1980 and again in 1999–2000 — making him one of the few industrialists to lead the apex lobby group across two distinct economic eras, the late License Raj and the post-1991 reform phase. In 2017, then President Pranab Mukherjee presented him with the CII President's Award for Lifetime Achievement.