EVs: PM Modi flags off the first e-Vitara; Suzuki to invest Rs. 70k cr in India
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Hailing Maruti Suzuki as a “brand ambassador of Make in India,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday flagged off e-VITARA, Suzuki’s first global strategic Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV), as its parent Suzuki Motor Corporation announced to invest Rs. 70,000 crores in India over the next six years.
This investment will include Rs. 3,200 crore in setting up a dedicated line for manufacturing EVs at the company’s car manufacturing complex at Hansalpur, about 90 km from Ahmedabad.
Speaking at the event, PM Modi said that foundations for the Hansalpur unit of Suzuki Motors were laid in 2012 when he was the Chief Minister of Gujarat. “Today you can see Japan’s Suzuki is manufacturing cars in India which will be exported back to Japan. This not only reflects the strength of India-Japan relations but also the trust that global companies have in India. Companies like Maruti Suzuki have become brand ambassadors of the government’s “Make in India” campaign. For four consecutive years, Maruti has remained Bharat’s largest car exporter. From today, EV exports will also begin on the same scale.”
He recalled having said in Singapore last year that old vehicles could also be converted into hybrid EVs. “Maruti Suzuki accepted this challenge and, in just 6 months, developed a working prototype. I just saw this prototype of the hybrid ambulance. These will perfectly fit into the PM E-DRIVE scheme, for which the government has allocated Rs.11,000 crores. Hybrid EVs will minimize pollution and provide an option to convert old vehicles into EVs.”
About his upcoming visit to Tokyo this week, he said the bilateral relationship between India and Japan is not limited to diplomacy but is a cultural and trust-based relationship. “We see our progress in each other’s progress. The journey we started with Maruti Suzuki has now reached the speed of a bullet train.”
Suzuki’s Hansalpur plant will have a capacity to produce 2.5 lakh e-cars per annum, to be manufactured by Suzuki Motor Gujarat Private Ltd (SMG), a 100 percent subsidiary of Suzuki Motor Corporation. Later, this capacity will be scaled up to 10 lakh units per annum, making the facility a global production hub for the e-Vitara model.
“We will export this ‘Made-in-India BEV’ to over 100 countries, including Japan and Europe,” said Toshihiro Suzuki, Representative Director & President, Suzuki Motor Corporation.
A company official told reporters that Suzuki has so far invested Rs 21,000 crores at the Hansalpur plant and is set to invest an additional Rs 3,200 crore on the fourth line of production with a capacity to manufacture 2.5 lakh cars annually.
Maruti Suzuki started exports from India in 1986. The first large consignment of 500 cars was shipped to Hungary in September 1987. The company reached the one millionth milestone in vehicle exports in 2012-13, and the next millionth in 2020-21.
The PM also inaugurated the lithium-ion battery manufacturing facility worth Rs. 4,200 crore, jointly set up by Suzuki, Toshiba, and Denso. It will support hybrid and electric vehicle battery production and boost usage of green energy. With this, over 80 percent of the battery value will now be manufactured within the country.
