Union Minister Kumaraswamy Urges Auto Industry to Prioritize Design and Domestic Value Addition

At the 66th ACMA annual convention, Heavy Industries and Steel Minister H D Kumaraswamy emphasized that India's electric vehicle success must be measured by domestic design and value addition rather than sales volume alone. Industry leaders from SIAM and Maruti Suzuki also shared insights on manufacturing growth, PLI scheme progress, and cybersecurity preparedness.

Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Steel, H D Kumaraswamy, has called upon the Indian automotive industry to increase its focus on domestic design and domestic value addition (DVA) to effectively drive the country's electric vehicle (EV) transition. Speaking at the 66th annual convention of the Automotive Component Manufacturers Association (ACMA), the minister stated that the success of India's electric mobility cannot be evaluated solely on the basis of vehicle sales numbers.

Kumaraswamy urged the component manufacturing sector to invest in cleaner, efficient, and emerging technologies aimed at both domestic and global markets. He noted that the Ministry of Heavy Industries will continue to collaborate with industry bodies like ACMA and the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) to improve scheme implementation and address operational challenges.

Highlighting the broader metrics of success, the minister noted that progress must be measured by domestic technology design, domestic value addition, the participation of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in new supply chains, and the global competitiveness of Indian products. He added that the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for the automobile and auto component sector has shown encouraging results, with approved applicants reporting investments of ₹45,477 crore and generating over 67,000 employment opportunities as of June 30, 2026.

Shailesh Chandra, President of SIAM, spoke at the inaugural session and highlighted the sector's performance. Following GST 2.0, the automobile industry experienced strong acceleration with growth exceeding 15-20 percent across categories in the second half of the previous year. Chandra noted that the auto component industry scaled up capacity to support demand, reaching an industry turnover of ₹7.60 lakh crore in FY26, which included exports of approximately $24 billion.

Addressing the convention, Hisashi Takeuchi, Managing Director and CEO of Maruti Suzuki India, pointed out that government initiatives such as the PLI scheme and the India Semiconductor Mission are helping build critical capabilities and reduce strategic dependencies. However, he emphasized that increased digitalisation brings cybersecurity challenges.

Takeuchi noted that as hackers develop more sophisticated technologies, organizations must stay ahead by investing in advanced cybersecurity systems. He added that companies must also maintain robust contingency plans to quickly resume operations and minimize disruptions in the event of a cyber incident.

"The emphasis on domestic value addition and indigenous design marks a mature turning point for India's automotive and EV ecosystem. As manufacturing scale expands—supported by robust production-linked incentives and growing component turnover—long-term competitiveness will increasingly depend on deep supply chain localization and advanced technology integration. For entrepreneurs and MSMEs entering this evolving mobility supply chain, aligning with these quality and technology benchmarks will be essential to capture both domestic and global market opportunities." — Dr. Shishir Gupta, Founder & CEO, StartupLanes