Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari said on Thursday that the government’s focus is to make India’s automobile industry the largest globally.
Addressing the Deloitte Government Summit, the Minister noted that the country already ranks number three, after US and China.
The industry today stands at a market size of ₹22 lakh crore in FY24, from ₹7.5 lakh crore a decade back with the presence of almost all the global auto majors, he noted.
“Australian government told me that they were buying e-buses from us. We have the potential to grow this further,” Gadkari added.
Emphasising India’s goal of becoming a leading global automobile hub, the Minister stressed on the importance of increasing exports and reducing imports to strengthen the country’s macroeconomic stability.
The Minister also stressed on the need to bring down logistics costs, which is critical for India to transform into a manufacturing hub.
Logistics costs in India are around 14–16 per cent of GDP, compared to 8 per cent in China and 12 per cent in Europe. “As logistics costs come down, our prices will be more competitive globally,” he added.