Japanese automaker Suzuki Motor Corporation is all set to export its first batch of Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV) manufactured at its Gujarat facility to over 100 countries, said its Representative Director and President, Toshihiro Suzuki, on Tuesday.
In a big push to India’s ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ and ‘Make-in-India’ missions, Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged of Maruti Suzuki India’s first electric vehicle, e-VITARA, from its Suzuki Motor Gujarat unit in Hansalpur, Ahmedabad, on Tuesday, and also inaugurated the production of lithium-ion battery cells for strong hybrid vehicles at its facility.
On the occasion, the auto giant’s President, Toshihiro Suzuki, announced his company’s plans to invest ₹70,000 crore in India in the next five to six years “to strengthen its operations in the country”.
“Suzuki will invest over ₹70,000 crore in India, over the next 5 to 6 years,” he said, adding, “Suzuki has proudly partnered in India's mobility journey for over four decades. We remain committed to supporting India's vision for sustainable green mobility and contributing to Viksit Bharat.”
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Suzuki's first partnership in India was a joint venture with the Government of India, signed in 1982, to create Maruti Udyog Limited, now named Maruti Suzuki India. The collaboration, which marked the first major foreign investment in India's auto industry, saw an investment of over ₹1 lakh crore, leading to the creation of over 11 lakh direct jobs in the value chain.
The batch of export bound e-VITARA from the Gujarat facility will be shipped from Pipavav port to the European region, including the United Kingdom, Germany, Norway, France, Denmark, Switzerland, Netherlands, Sweden, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Austria, and Belgium.
Suzuki said it aims to make the Gujarat facility one of the world’s largest automobile manufacturing hubs, with a planned capacity of 10 lakh units and only raw material and some semiconductor parts coming from Japan.
“This is a big salute to Atmanirbhar Bharat. We will use a multi-powertrain strategy including Electric, Strong Hybrid, ethanol flex fuel, and compressed biogas, to achieve carbon neutrality and climate change goals,” he said.
"We chose this facility to manufacture the e VITARA, our first BEV, and make it as a global production hub for this model. We will export this ‘Made-in-India BEV’ to over 100 countries, including Japan and Europe, while also starting production of India's first lithium-ion battery and cell with electrode level localization at the Toshiba Denso Suzuki plant, to be used in our hybrid vehicles,” Suzuki shared.
Swadeshi should be everyone’s mantra: PM Modi
No matter who makes the investment, what matters is that it is the Indians who work hard to make the product, opined Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the flagging-off ceremony of Maruti Suzuki’s first electric vehicle, e-Vitara, at Hansalpur near Ahmedabad in Gujarat.
Making a pitch for the adoption of ‘Swadeshi’ goods, the Prime Minister said that his government’s 'Make-in-India' initiative had created a favourable environment for both global and domestic manufacturers.
“I am not concerned about whose money is invested, whether it is dollar or pound, or whether that currency is black or white. But whatever production is done with that money, the sweat should be of my countrymen,” he said, and added that in that sense, “Maruti Suzuki is also a swadeshi company”.
Calling on all Indians to adopt “Swadeshi as their life mantra”, he said "the world will now drive electric vehicles that are made in India" and by that logic, the things made in India by Japan are also ‘swadeshi’.
Referring to his vision of making India a developed country by 2047, PM Modi recalled land allocation to Maruti Suzuki in Hansalpur when he was the chief minister of Gujarat in 2012.
"In those days too, I had the vision of 'Make-in-India' and Atmanirbhar Bharat," he said.
Referring to the launch of the production of Li-ion battery cell and electrode at TDS Lithium-Ion Battery Gujarat Pvt Ltd (TDSG) in Hansalpur, the PM said India had been dependent on imports for these batteries until a few years ago.
"A battery is the most critical part of the EV ecosystem. To strengthen EV manufacturing, it was important that India produce batteries too. With that vision, we laid the foundation of TDSG battery plant here in 2017. For the first time in India, three Japanese companies have come together to produce battery cells," he noted.
India being armed with the “power of democracy, the advantage of demography and a very large pool of skilled workforce”, the Prime Minister said it creates a “win-win situation for every partner of ours”.
With the country ramping-up its electronics production in the last decade by 500 per cent, mobile production by 2,700 per cent, and defense production by 200 per cent, the entire world is “looking towards India”, he further highlighted.
Urging all the states to “take advantage of this opportunity”, the PM said none should lag in competing for reforms, pro-development policies, and good governance.
With the country’s semi-conductor sector also taking off, the Prime Minister emphasised on the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ mission that focuses on achieving self-reliance in all sectors.
Also Read: First made-in-India semiconductor chip to be out by year-end: PM
“In the future, our focus will be on futuristic industries. That is why we are emphasising Mission Manufacturing… For the bright future of your future generations, to realise the mantra of Atmanirbhar Bharat, I am inviting my countrymen today. Come, let us all move forward and make India a developed country," he said.
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