Auto Inc evaluates roadmap to become Atmanirbhar, boost exports

Industry officials and minister Goyal spoke on the sidelines of the 60th annual convention of the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam).

"Under the clarion call of Atmanirbhar Bharat by the Prime Minister, we commit ourselves to reduce imports, increase exports, invest more in R&D and generate more jobs," said Pawan Goenka, managing director, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd (M&M).

He added that the auto industry imports more than ₹1 lakh crore worth of components, which will reduced to about 50% over the next four to five years.

"To cut down imports at that scale, we need to eliminate gaps in competitiveness, costs, quality, technology and capability," Goenka said, citing automotive electronics and auto-grade steel as two areas of focus where imports can be reduced. "We import about $2.5 billion worth of electronics and steel each."

Stressing that India does not have the scale to match prices offered by China and other Asean countries when it comes to electronic components, Goenka suggested aggregating demand for such parts from across sectors--automotive, consumer electronics, energy and telecommunications--to provide large scale opportunity for manufacturing in India.

"Some handholding will be required by the government for a period of 2-3 years before the industry has enough scale to be able to compete on its own with its neighbours," he said.

To bring down steel imports, he said his team will work with steel industry stakeholders and the concerned ministry to trim overseas purchases. "In most cases import of steel happens due to the local non-availability of certain grades of steel."

Meanwhile, minister Goyal assured that the government was willing to engage with the industry as frequently as required to ensuring self-reliance in manufacturing and increasing global share of exports from India.

"We need to achieve greater scale, quality and competitiveness in the sunrise sectors and look at increasing our share in the global supply chain," said Goyal.

Deepak Jain, president, Automotive Component Manufacturers Association (Acma), said the apex body of auto ancillary units has drawn up a plan to triple total component exports from India to $45 billion over the next five to seven years and secure a 4-5% market share of the global auto components trade worth $1.3 trillion.