The government aims make India’s auto sector a INR 25-lakh crore industry from the current INR 12.5 lakh crore, and the world’s No.1 when the country becomes a USD 5-trillion economy, Nitin Gadkari, union minister of road transport & highways (MoRTH), said in his address at the 10th Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit on Thursday.
India is expected to be the third largest economy by 2027-28, with a GDP of over USD 5 trillion, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said in her address at the summit on Wednesday.
Since FY21, car sales in India have been advancing at a brisk pace. During the calendar year 2023, for the first time, the volumes breached the 4-million mark.
“This is the industry that has already created 4 crore jobs and is a big contributor to GST of state and central governments. Hence, as part of the plan to make India self-reliant and a USD 5-trillion economy under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi, it is our mission to make it a INR 25-lakh crore industry and No. 1 in the world,” Gadkari said.
Gujarat, which has seen multiple auto clusters come up over the years, has been playing an important role in developing the industry.
Gadkari asked automakers to accelerate investment and expansion in alternative technologies like electric, hydrogen, flex fuel etc. to ensure they “do not miss the bus”. The manner in which automobile numbers are increasing, there’s a huge potential in the sector, he pointed out. “Till four years ago, everyone had apprehensions about EVs. That’s no longer the case,” said Gadkari. Companies that were not forthcoming enough in their decision to invest in EVs are now repenting, he said alluding to “one among the top five carmakers”.
Meanwhile, Gadkari informed that his ministry has already begun preparing a detailed project report (DPR) to run pod taxis in Gujarat’s upcoming Gift (Gujarat International Finance Tec) City. His ministry has already formed a special committee to develop and recommend standards and specifications for the country’s PRT system, and that establishing the DPR is a step towards that goal. The PRT system or pod cars or pod taxis, is a public transportation system that consists of small, automated vehicles that operate on a network of specially designed guideways. The driverless pods are typically used for non-stop, point-to-point travel of four to six people at a time.The National Highways Logistics Management Limited (NHLML) has already invited proposals for the development of driverless pods for internal travel within the GIFT City, which will be integrated with the existing bus rapid transit system (BRTS) and metro rail systems.
During his address at the summit, union minister for heavy industries Mahendra Nath Pandey expressed satisfaction at the manner in which electrification in the sector has progressed and the way the entire ecosystem is developing. The advanced chemistry cell (ACC) awardees such as Ola Electric and Reliance Industries under the productivity-linked incentive (PLI) scheme will begin manufacturing cells in the country later this year. The heavy industries ministry is the nodal ministry for automobile industry.
“In addition to meeting our own requirements, India also has the potential to become an exporter of cells. I am happy to see that from being a net importer, we will become an exporter,” said Pandey.
The government approved the National Programme on ACC Battery Storage on May 12, 2021, with a budget of INR 18,100 crore to strengthen the country’s electric mobility and battery storage ecosystem. Over INR 13,000 crore of investment has already been roped in from the industry under ACC PLI. Pandey said the auto PLI scheme has been extended by one year, with the revised deadline of 2026-27.
