New Delhi, Jan 17 (IANS): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said the Indian automobile sector had attracted more than $36 billion in FDI over the last four years and this figure would go up several times in the coming years. He exhorted vehicle manufacturers to follow the mantra of ‘Make in India and Make for the World’.
After inaugurating the Bharat Mobility Global Expo 2025 at Bharat Mandapam in the national capital, the Prime Minister said India presented a huge opportunity and is an ideal destination for investors. The government was paving the way for global investors to bring more Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into the automobile sector which was technology and innovation-driven, he pointed out.
PM Modi said the government was supporting the development of an automobile manufacturing ecosystem in the country through schemes such as PLI which had seen the investment of Rs 1.25 lakh crore in the sector and created more than 1.5 lakh jobs.
He highlighted the importance of further increasing the production of environment-friendly electric vehicles to reduce the consumption and import of fossil fuels in the country.
The Prime Minister pointed out that a spectacular 640 times growth had taken place in the sales of electric vehicles in the country in the last 10 years from a mere 3600 units in 2014 to over 16.8 lakh units in 2024.
“The number of electric vehicles now sold in a single day is more than twice the number that were sold in the whole year, a decade ago,” PM Modi remarked.
PM Modi said that the sales of electric vehicles were growing at a rapid pace and were expected to expand by more than eight times, which presents huge opportunities for investment in the automotive sector.
The Prime Minister said the schemes such as FAME launched by the government with an investment of over Rs 8,000 crore had helped to promote the sales of electric vehicles and assured the industry of more support in the future to spur growth in the auto sector.
The Prime Minister said that a lot of innovation was going on in India but this must shift to mission mode. He also exhorted the youth to focus their energy on the green auto sector with the creation of new startups to drive growth.
PM Modi also advised auto manufacturers to take advantage of government schemes such as those introduced for vehicle scrapping and introduce incentive schemes of their own to help create a cleaner environment to tackle the challenge of climate change.