Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal (File Photo: PTI)
Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Monday asked auto component makers to attract investments from European Free Trade Association (EFTA) countries to achieve the export target of USD 100 billion by 2030.
Speaking at the 64th annual session of the Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (Acma), he said, “If you look at our agreements with different countries, like the EFTA agreement with Switzerland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland, they have now committed to invest $100 billion in India. They don’t have much production in those four countries, but they do have some technologies. They would be interested in investing to make profits in the (Indian) market, even if they don’t have a particular technology.”
On 4 September, the Swiss government submitted a letter to its Parliament as a first step towards ratifying the EFTA agreement.
Goyal said the automotive industry needed to promote the aftermarket sector by convincing customers of the importance of using original equipment manufacturer (OEM) products through social media campaigns or other means.
“We need to make them understand that the value paid for an OEM product will always be much less in terms of the value and years of service that you get. If we look at the new car market and the aftermarket sector together, I think the future of this sector is absolutely bright and no one in the world can compete with Indian component manufacturers,” he added.
The Minister urged industry leaders to prepare a roadmap to become the world’s largest automotive market, putting emphasis on combining organic industry growth with an international reach to secure investments and focus on research and development (R&D).
India is currently the third largest automobile market in the world.
“The government will soon come up with guidelines for the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF), where Rs 1 billion has been allocated to support academia-private partnerships, and I hope all of you will benefit from it,” Goyal said.
He also invited automotive component industry leaders to examine the development potential of the government’s next 20 smart industrial cities.
Goyal asked them to take advantage of the global opportunities offered by new-age technologies such as electric vehicles (EVs).
“The Bharat Mobility Global Expo 2025 will reflect much more on electric vehicles and the ecosystem associated with them. Bicycles are also coming on board. That sector needs to grow in India. We used to have an advantage at one time, but we have largely lost that advantage over the last three to four decades,” he said.
The Minister spoke of the potential of the automotive sector to achieve economies of scale by serving the domestic market.
First published: September 9, 2024 | 20:30 IS
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