Nitin Gadkari, the Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, announced that India will soon be able to export lithium-ion batteries. Addressing the 64th annual convention of the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) in New Delhi, he highlighted the growing capabilities of India in manufacturing these batteries and expected global exports in the near future.

Gadkari shared that significant research is going on into new battery chemistries, including aluminium and ironic oil, which may expand India’s market reach to global level. He emphasized that many major companies, such as Adani, Tata, Maruti, LG, and Samsung, are entering the lithium-ion battery sector, which signals strong growth potential.

Additionally, the union minister predicted substantial growth in India’s electric vehicle (EV) market, expecting annual sales of one crore units by 2030, creating five crore jobs. He estimated that India’s EV market will become a Rs 20 lakh crore industry by 2030, making the country a global leader in EV production.

To support this growth, Gadkari announced the establishment of a world-class vehicle testing agency in Pune, which will provide better research and testing for vehicle manufacturing. A new CIIT (Central Institute of Industrial Training) Training Institute, with a Rs 450 crore investment, is expected to open within three months which will be set up to train workers in advanced manufacturing techniques.

He urged the automobile industry to improve product quality, design, and technology to remain competitive in the global market. He also highlighted the need for the industry to support India’s vehicle scrappage policy by offering better incentives to scrap old vehicles, pointing out that similar policies in the USA and Europe have increased vehicle sales by 9-12%. 

He also thanked the industry  for offering 3% discounts on scrapping old cars and encouraged to set up their own scrappage centers, which could reduce component costs by 20-40%.

In the end, he highlights the importance of the automobile industry in realizing India’s ambition of becoming a $5 trillion economy and the world’s leading automobile manufacturer, to achieve carbon neutrality by 2070.

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