The inauguration of the manufacturing facility of HYM Drive Systems, a joint venture between Hero Motors Ltd and Yamaha Motors Co (Japan), took place on Thursday at Hero E-Cycle Valley in Ludhiana. Pankaj Munjal, Chairman of Hero Motors Company, inaugurated the new facility in the presence of senior executives from Yamaha Motor Co, strategic partners and other stakeholders.

HYM Drive Systems has a state-of-the-art facility that includes a hi-tech motor assembly line, along with an in-house motor winding and end-of-line testing equipped with ODIN software system for 100 percent traceability. HYM states that it will start production in Q1 2023 with a capacity of 300,000 motors per annum in phase one (capacity expansion plan to 10,00,000 or one million in phase two). The product would be sold to the global markets through Hero and Yamaha’s OEM network and will also be used in the Hero and Yamaha branded e-cycles.

HYM claims that Hero Motors and Yamaha Motor Co (Japan) entered into an agreement in October 2021 to create a global e-cycle (electric) drive unit company at Hero E-Cycle Valley in Ludhiana. According to the company, the Hero E-Cycle valley is an integrated, high-end plant that manufactures premium push bikes for the global market. This joint venture is the next step in the strategic alliance forged between Hero and Yamaha in September 2019 to work together in the e-cycle product segment.

Sharing his thoughts, Pankaj Munjal, Chairman of Hero Motors Company, said, “This manufacturing facility is a key component of our joint strategy with Yamaha to design, validate and manufacture electric drive units for global e-cycle markets in India. HMC envisions India to be a global manufacturing hub for e-cycles and the drive systems. The EU e-bicycle market has been growing in double digits for more than a decade and expected to grow at a similar rate in the near future. The set-up of this facility has brought us one step closer to fulfilling our ambition to be the first fully integrated player in India for global markets. To take it a step further, Hero Motors is planning to set up a technical centre in 2023 to design the complete electric drive units, which will include motors from HYM and other components like battery, controller, charger, display, sensors and connect applications from automotive suppliers in India and the EU.”

Adding to this, Okubo Shingo, General Manager, Yamaha Japan, remarked, “We are delighted today to set up this facility and see our partnership with Hero start so efficiently despite pandemic challenges. This partnership is in line with our ambition of advancing into e-cycle and meet the needs of e-cycle customers in a better way. We are excited to achieve this milestone.”

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JSW MG Motor India, one of the leading passenger vehicle manufacturers, has announced that it has successfully installed 1,000 community chargers under its MG Charge initiative.

Spanning more than 470 sites across India, the milestone makes JSW MG Motor India the first automaker in the country to establish community-led electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure at this scale. The installations are distributed across residential societies, condominiums, hospitals, corporate campuses, hotels and industrial parks.

Alongside the infrastructure announcement, the company revealed that MG-branded electric vehicles have cumulatively travelled over 2.9 billion green kilometres on Indian roads. This collective mileage has offset approximately 417,000 metric tonnes of CO2 emissions.

Furthermore, JSW MG Motor India has detailed an aggressive product timeline for the remainder of calendar year 2026 (CY2026). The automaker plans to launch three new New Energy Vehicles (NEVs).

This upcoming product push will mark the brand's introduction of plug-in hybrid (PHEV) technology to the Indian market. The company noted that its overarching corporate philosophy views India's transition to sustainable transit as a path that can be successfully driven by balancing multiple complementary technologies.

In alignment with national decarbonisation targets, JSW MG Motor India has systematically upgraded its primary manufacturing plant in Halol, Gujarat. The site has achieved significant efficiency metrics through the deployment of Industry 4.0 digitisation and Internet of Things (IoT) solutions.

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Maruti Suzuki India, the country’s largest passenger vehicle manufacturer, has announced a major expansion of its renewable energy footprint with two dedicated biogas projects on the occasion of World Environment Day.

The company has earmarked a cumulative investment of INR 9.25 billion through FY 2030–31 toward green energy initiatives to systematically curtail its carbon footprint across in-house manufacturing operations.

The automaker is investing INR 1.5 billion specifically into these two newly detailed biogas developments, aligning its corporate operations with the Government of India's ‘Waste-to-Wealth’ mission.

It has commissioned a new 10 TPD Biogas Plant at Kharkhoda, which is scheduled to be commissioned in FY2026–27. At full operational capacity, the plant is projected to mitigate 9,490 tonnes of CO2 emissions annually. The generated biogas will offset fossil fuel reliance by servicing approximately 20 percent of the total gas requirement at the Kharkhoda manufacturing site.

Furthermore, earlier this month, Maruti Suzuki India completed an expansion at its Manesar facility, scaling output from an initial 0.2 TPD to 0.7 TPD. The expanded setup is expected to generate roughly 360,000 standard cubic meters of biogas annually, avoiding an estimated 664 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year.

The plant leverages anaerobic digestion technology to convert organic and agricultural waste into raw biogas. It uses food waste, napier grass and paddy straw as feedstock, with a technical provision to boost output utilising cattle dung. The output will be directed into paint shop heating processes and factory canteen operations. Fermented Organic Manure (FOM) generated as a byproduct will be routed to internal horticulture or supplied back into the local agricultural ecosystem.

Beyond localised biogas projects, Maruti Suzuki is systematically scaling its solar energy infrastructure to counter liquid natural gas (LNG) volatility and supply constraints. It has progressively expanded its installed solar capacity to 79 MWp across its manufacturing facilities and targets an expansion to 319 MWp of solar-generated renewable energy by FY 2030–31.

The automaker recently replaced natural gas with biogas for approximately 10 percent of the energy requirements at its Hansalpur facility. Supported by SRDI (a wholly owned subsidiary of Suzuki Motor Corporation, Japan), this transition ensured uninterrupted operations during active LNG supply bottlenecks.

Hisashi Takeuchi, Managing Director & CEO, Maruti Suzuki India, said, “Maruti Suzuki has been consistently working on initiatives aimed at reducing fossil fuel consumption and oil import dependence. In line with this, we are setting up a new 10 Tonnes Per Day biogas plant at the Kharkhoda facility as well as expanding the existing biogas plant at Manesar facility. At a time when the world is navigating an increasingly uncertain energy landscape, such initiatives assume greater significance. As the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India has called for reducing dependence on fossil fuels, the commissioning of our biogas project comes at an appropriate time. It enables us to contribute, in a modest but meaningful way, to the current national priority alongside several other ongoing efforts.”

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Hyundai Motor India, one of the leading passenger vehicle manufacturers, has announced a long-term strategic commitment to designate the state of Tamil Nadu as its designated ‘Flagship EV Hub for India’. The announcement includes an exclusive skill development partnership alongside manufacturing and supply chain localisation goals.

As part of this roadmap, Hyundai Motor India has reaffirmed its plan to deploy an investment of over INR 260 billion in Tamil Nadu between 2023 and 2032. This allocation is a component of the company's broader, previously declared INR 450 billion investment blueprint for the Indian market. To date, the Chennai facility has exported more than 3.9 million vehicles to over 150 countries.

The manufacturing hub will scale zero-emission capabilities via immediate product rollouts and component localisation:

• Product Rollout: Hyundai Motor India plans to introduce two new vehicle models from its Chennai facility within the year. This includes the launch of its first mass-market dedicated electric vehicle (EV) to accelerate local adoption.
• Industrial Localisation: The company has established Tamil Nadu’s first battery sub-assembly plant for EV powertrains. Hyundai Motor India is currently expanding local sourcing for power electronics and related primary components to minimise import dependency.
• Charging Network: Hyundai has deployed a direct-current (DC) fast EV charging ecosystem across the state consisting of 39 stations and 78 charging points. The high-capacity network is scheduled for further expansion across major urban centres and transit highways over the next 2 to 3 years.

The company has also aims to increase its localisation rate from the present 82 percent to 90 percent in the next 5-6 years. An additional INR 40 billion in state sourcing value from the current base, which is expected to generate an additional 2,000 jobs in the state.

Hyundai Motor India and the Government of Tamil Nadu (GoTN) have formalised a structured skill development project scheduled to commence active training operations in December 2027. The program aims to increase the global employability of the state's workforce by integrating next-generation manufacturing skills.

The curriculum will leverage partnerships with local Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs), polytechnics and engineering colleges to train students in advanced disciplines:

• EV technical architectures and hydrogen mobility systems.
• Industrial robotics, digital automation and AI-enabled manufacturing.
• Smart factory workflows alongside professional workplace communication and language instruction.

Tarun Garg, Managing Director & CEO, Hyundai Motor India, said, “HMIL’s initiatives will strengthen Tamil Nadu’s leadership in sustainable mobility and automotive excellence, while also accelerating skill development to foster a future-ready workforce. We will roll out two new models from the Chennai facility, including our first mass-market dedicated EV within this year, marking a significant step towards accelerating EV adoption and building a strong EV ecosystem. Alongside, advancing EV localization, we are equally focused on developing a future-ready skilled workforce, enabling talent to support future automotive technologies."

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Maruti Suzuki India, one of the largest passenger vehicle manufacturers globally, has officially launched India’s first flex-fuel passenger car on the eve of World Environment Day.

The technology is being introduced in the Maruti Suzuki Wagon R, a high-volume model that has previously served as a platform for the company's alternative fuel options, including Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) and Compressed Natural Gas (CNG).

The vehicle was unveiled in New Delhi in the presence of Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Road Transport and Highways, and Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas.

The flex-fuel Wagon R is engineered to provide complete fuelling flexibility, enabling consumers to operate the vehicle on any ethanol-to-petrol blend ratio ranging from E20 (20 percent ethanol) up to E100 (100 percent ethanol).

The introduction of ethanol flex-fuel tech represents a broader commitment by India's market leader to scale diversified powertrain architectures. Maruti Suzuki's long-term product strategy incorporates a multi-tiered technology approach to meet carbon reduction goals, including Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs), Hybrids, CNG, Compressed Biogas (CBG) and now, flex-fuel configurations.

Hisashi Takeuchi, Managing Director & CEO, Maruti Suzuki India, said, “The ecosystem for ethanol as a fuel in India is in its early stages, and as a market leader, we think it is our responsibility to contribute to make `India Go Flex’. Once it reaches mainstream adoption, Flex-Fuel Vehicles have the potential to cut oil imports, carbon emissions, and local air pollution while enhancing domestic value addition and farmer incomes.”

Nitin Gadkari noted, “Biofuels like ethanol are an important pathway towards reducing crude oil import dependence while strengthening our rural economy. Flex-Fuel Vehicles can create a strong and sustainable demand for ethanol, benefiting our farmers, industry, and the environment together. I appreciate Maruti Suzuki for taking this leadership step and supporting the Government’s vision of clean and self-reliant mobility.”

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