Amid the rapid transformation of automobile manufacturing, industry and government representatives urged component makers to accelerate investments in advanced technologies and build capabilities for next-generation vehicles. They also highlighted the opportunity for India to emerge as a major global manufacturing hub as companies reconfigure their supply chains.
Union Heavy Industries and Steel Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy advocated increasing investments in clean and emerging technologies, “I urge the automobile and auto component industry to invest more boldly in cleaner, efficient and emerging technologies, not merely to make in India but to make for the world,” said Kumaraswamy in his speech at the 66th annual session of the Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA).
The minister asked the automotive industry to focus more on design and domestic value addition (DVA) to drive India’s electric vehicle (EV) transition, saying the success of the country’s electric mobility cannot be measured only by the number of EVs sold.
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said that component manufacturers should move beyond building strong domestic and export businesses and start establishing manufacturing footprints in developed markets.
He stated that companies should utilise the market access opened up by India's recent trade agreements. He added that nine trade agreements finalised by the government in recent years provide access to 38 developed countries with a combined GDP of around $60 trillion.
Hyundai Motor India MD and CEO Tarun Garg highlighted India’s $1.4 billion auto-component trade deficit and said that there is a greater need to design, develop and manufacture future technologies.
“The concern goes beyond the deficit. Our exports remain concentrated in relatively mature technologies, while our imports are led by advanced, higher-value technologies which may well define the future. While India has successfully built scale, time has come now to accelerate and leapfrog towards greater self-reliance by building domestic capabilities to design, develop and manufacture future technologies, including semiconductor chips, EV battery cells, power electronics and much more,” said Garg.
Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) President and Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles (TMPV) MD Shailesh Chandra said that India’s automobile industry has tremendous potential to move towards scale and global leadership. Chandra added, “The opportunity before us is therefore much larger than just import substitution. Given our current scale and growth trajectory, our ambition should be to establish India as one of the world's leading automotive manufacturing and mobility hubs.”
ACMA President Vikrampati Singhania said that the component industry should take greater ownership of design, engineering, technology and product development if India is to establish itself as a leading global automotive supply-chain hub. “For years, we have spoken about make in India. The next phase must increasingly be about creating in India, engineering in India, and innovating in India, for India and for the world,” he noted.