The government is readying the final draft of the Automotive Mission Plan 2047 (AMP 2047), with the draft expected to be finalised in the next six months.

The first meeting of the Apex Committee took place last Friday, led by the Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI). “It was the first meeting to deliberate the topics under the AMP document, to make it a success. India should have the entire value chain of automotive and our companies should also make global brands, to make them visible across the globe,” a senior government official told businessline.

Sources indicate that key topics included transforming India into a global hub for automotive industry, enhancing research and development (R&D) capabilities, and how to make Indian brands global. Discussions also covered alternative fuels such as ethanol and flex-fuel powered vehicles. Going forward, the Ministry of Power, Ministry of Petroleum, and NITI Aayog will also join the committee.

According to sources, there were discussions around how to make India a global hub for Automotive industry and develop research and development (R&D).

Sources said there will be more such meetings in the coming months.

“What are the possible chapters, what committees should write those chapters… it will take time. It will be an exercise of at least four to six months. Some of the suggestions that came included how do we (India) become global brands and not just global players, by just exporting our products. The discussion was mainly on what should be the objective in the ‘Vision’ document and who will do what – what chapters, what topics to be covered and who will draft it,” said one of the attendees of the meeting.

Sources say the Apex Committee consists of MHI and office bearers (President, Vice President and Director General) of Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) and Automotive Components Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA), and Presidents of CII and FICCO.

There will also be formation of sub-committees for each chapter that would involve members from their respective Ministries, as the chapters will be theme specific, the sources added. For instance, for electric vehicles and charging infrastructure, there will be the involvement of the Ministry of Power, and when it comes to different fuel topics, the Ministry of Petroleum will be involved.

The meeting was chaired by Kamran Rizvi, Secretary, MHI, and Hanif Qureshi, Additional Secretary, MHI. From the industry,Pawan Goenka, Chairman of SCALE (Steering Committee for Advancing Local value-add and Exports) and Chairman of IN-SPACe (Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre); Shailesh Chandra, President, SIAM; Shradha Suri Marwah, President, ACMA; Sanjiv Puri, President, CII; and Harsha Vardhan Agarwal, President, FICCI attended the meeting.

This will be the third AMP by the government to scale up the Indian automobile industry. The first AMP was launched in 2006 by the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh (AMP 2006-16), and second plan was released by the current government in 2015 (AMP 2016-26).

However, both the AMPs did not see any success or meet the target that they had set in their ‘vision’ documents. The AMP 2006-16 was launched with a vision of making India “emerge as the destination of choice in the world for design and manufacture of automobiles and auto components with output reaching a level of $145 billion, accounting for more than 10 per cent of the GDP and providing additional employment to 25 million people by 2016”.

Similarly, the second AMP 2016-26 was aimed to propel the Indian automotive industry to be the engine of the ‘Make in India’ programme, as it is amongst the foremost drivers of the manufacturing sector.

Published on December 15, 2024