Union Heavy Industries and Steel Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy on Wednesday urged automobile and component manufacturers to increase investment in clean and emerging technologies, saying India's automotive ambitions should extend beyond meeting domestic demand to developing products and technologies for global markets.

Addressing the 66th annual session of the Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA), he called for greater scale, deeper localisation and faster innovation.

"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," Kumaraswamy said.

He said the automotive sector was important to India's manufacturing plans because of its links with steel, electronics, engineering, chemicals, logistics and services, while its MSME base supports millions of jobs.

EV transition must go beyond vehicle sales

Kumaraswamy said India's progress in electric mobility should be assessed not only through EV sales, but also through technology developed in India, domestic value addition, MSME participation in the new supply chain and the competitiveness of Indian products in global markets.

"It must also be measured by how much technology is designed in India, how much value is added domestically, how many MSMEs participate in the new supply chain and how effectively Indian products compete in global markets," he said.

The government is developing domestic manufacturing capacity for batteries, electric powertrains and other components required for the transition to electric mobility. The Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for Advanced Chemistry Cell battery storage has an outlay of Rs. 181 billion (US$ 1.9 billion) and aims to establish 50 GWh of domestic battery manufacturing capacity. The government has also initiated measures to establish domestic manufacturing capacity for sintered rare-earth permanent magnets, which are used in electric motors.

"This initiative will help reduce strategic input dependence and strengthen supply chain security," Kumaraswamy said.

Auto PLI investments cross Rs. 45.48 billion

Under the automobile and auto component PLI scheme, companies approved under the programme had reported investments of Rs. 45.48 billion and generated more than 67,000 jobs as of June 30th, 2026, according to Kumaraswamy. He said the incentive programmes were intended to encourage investment, increase domestic value addition and support advanced technology manufacturing and the transition towards cleaner mobility.

EV adoption receives government support

The government's PM E-Drive scheme has had its total outlay increased by Rs. 10 billion to Rs. 119 billion. The additional allocation is intended to continue support for electric two-wheelers, with the scheme targeting around 4.579 million units.

More than 2.57 million electric two-wheelers and 275,000 electric three-wheelers have been supported so far, while 53 electric trucks have also received support, the minister said. The government has allocated Rs. 43.9 billion for deploying 14,028 electric buses, of which around 13,800 have already been allocated.

Charging infrastructure and e-buses

The government has earmarked Rs. 20 billion for public charging infrastructure, with proposals worth Rs. 7.3 billion covering 7,254 chargers already approved. Separately, the PM e-Bus Sewa Payment Security Mechanism has an outlay of Rs. 34.35 billion and aims to support the deployment of more than 38,000 electric buses by providing payment security to operators. Kumaraswamy said 27,555 e-buses had already been registered under the mechanism.

The minister said the government would continue working with ACMA, the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) and other industry stakeholders to improve policy implementation and address operational issues. Kumaraswamy said India's automotive ambitions should extend beyond being a large market or manufacturing base to increasing its participation in the global shift towards new mobility technologies.