India EV Push Needs More Local Tech And Value Addition

India’s green mobility push is being linked to how much technology and value addition can be developed within the country. The emphasis is not only on expanding cleaner mobility, but also on strengthening domestic capabilities across the automotive industry.

Domestic value addition is the key focus

The push puts greater attention on building more technology and value within India. For the automotive sector, that means strengthening the capabilities needed to support the country’s transition towards greener mobility rather than focusing only on vehicle adoption.

The emphasis on domestic value addition also makes the technology side of the transition important. Building stronger capabilities within India can help create a deeper industrial base around the technologies required for the next phase of automotive development.

MSMEs have a role to play

Indian MSMEs are another important part of the push. Bringing smaller businesses further into emerging automotive supply chains could give more domestic companies an opportunity to participate in the development and manufacturing ecosystem around greener mobility.

The priorities can be summed up as:

• Increase domestic value addition in green mobility
• Strengthen technology capabilities within India
• Bring MSMEs deeper into emerging automotive supply chains
• Build a stronger domestic automotive manufacturing ecosystem
• Improve the global competitiveness of Indian automotive products

Green mobility as an industrial opportunity

The focus on technology and value addition means the green transition is being viewed as more than a move towards cleaner vehicles. It is also an opportunity to strengthen the capabilities of Indian manufacturers and suppliers as the automotive industry changes.

For the Indian auto industry, the longer-term goal is to build products and technologies with greater domestic value while creating capabilities that can support competitiveness beyond the home market. The success of that approach will depend on how effectively manufacturers, suppliers and MSMEs develop the required technology and manufacturing strength.

Can India build enough home-grown green mobility technology to compete globally?