Modi confident EV sector in India will progress with the strengthening of the ecosystem

Gandhinagar, August 28, 2022

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said that it was a certainty that, with the strengthening of supply, demand and ecosystem, the electric vehicle (EV) sector in India is going to progress in the coming years.

Speaking at an event to mark 40 years of Japanese automobile manufacturers Suzuki in India at the Mahatma Mandir here, on the second day of a two-day visit to his home state of Gujarat, he said that, as part of the government’s efforts to strengthen the EV ecosystem, various incentives are being provided to electric vehicle buyers.

He said the government had taken numerous steps such as rebates in income tax and simplifying the loan process.

“To boost the supply, work is also being carried out at a fast pace to introduce PLI schemes in automobile and automobile components manufacturing," he said.

"A lot of policy decisions have also been taken to prepare a robust electric vehicle charging infrastructure. A battery swapping policy has also been introduced in the 2022 Financial Budget," he said.

Modi recalled that India had announced in COP-26 that it would achieve 50% of its installed electrical capacity from non-fossil sources by 2030. It had also set a 'Net Zero' target for 2070.

He also expressed happiness that car manufacturers Maruti Suzuki was working on things like biofuel, ethanol blending and hybrid EVs. He suggested that the company start work on projects related to compressed biomethane gas.

“It is our goal that India becomes Aatmnirbhar for its energy needs in the next 25 years of Amrit Kaal. As a major part of energy consumption is in the transport sector, innovation and efforts in this sector should be our priority. I am confident we will be able to achieve this,” he said.

Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, Japanese Ambassador to India Satoshi Suzuki, former Suzuki Motor Corporation President O Suzuki, current President T Suzuki, and other dignitaries were present on the occasion.

In a video message, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said the growth of Maruti Suzuki in the last four decades embodied the robust economic ties between the two countries.

He lauded the management of Suzuki for recognizing the potential of the Indian market. “I consider that we owe this success to the understanding and support of the people and government of India. Recently, Indian economic growth has been further accelerating due to various assistance measures for the manufacturing sector guided by the strong leadership of Prime Minister Modi,” he said.

Kishida said many other other Japanese companies have expressed their interest to invest in India. He also underlined the importance of this year as India and Japan mark 70 years of their relationship.

“Together with Prime Minister Modi I am determined to undertake the efforts to further develop the ‘Japan-India Strategic and Global Partnership' and to realize a Free and Open Indo-Pacific'," he added.

Modi said the success of Maruti-Suzuki signified the strong India-Japan partnership.

"In the last eight years, these relations between our two countries have reached new heights. Today, from the bullet train in Gujarat-Maharashtra to the Rudraksh centre in Banaras in UP, many development projects are examples of India-Japan friendship.”

During the event, the Prime Minister laid the foundation stones of two key projects of the Suzuki group in India - the Suzuki Motor Gujarat Electric Vehicle Battery Manufacturing Facility at Hansalpur in Gujarat and Maruti Suzuki’s upcoming vehicle manufacturing facility in Kharkhoda, Haryana.

The facility at Hansalpur will be set up with an investment of around Rs. 7,300 crore to manufacture Advance Chemistry Cell batteries for EVs. The factory in Kharkhoda will have the potential to manufacture 10 lakh passenger vehicles per year, making it one of the largest passenger vehicle manufacturing facilities at a single site in the world. The first phase of the project will be set up with an investment of over Rs. 11,000 crore.

NNN