Announcing that Prime Minister Modi’s message was motivating for the Indian auto industry to work together towards new age technology, world class manufacturing, and next generation infrastructure, Kenichi Ayukawa, President, SIAM and MD & CEO, Maruti Suzuki, in his address during the opening session, said that there was a need to achieve sustainable and productive growth with quality and safety, and protect our environment, resources and raw materials. Stressing on the need for focused efforts, Ayukawa mentioned that SIAM and ACMA have together worked out a localisation roadmap with a target of about 15 to 20 percent further localisation in the next 2 to 5 years. Revealing that SIAM has prepared an approach paper for long term regulation roadmap that takes care of all aspects and gives clarity on future investments, Ayukawa San said that the auto industry is working on new powertrain technologies. He appreciated the government’s announcement of the scrappage policy and PLI scheme. 

Amitabh Kant.

Recognising the contribution of the Indian automobile industry to the Indian economy, Dr Mahendra Nath Pandey, Union Minister of Heavy Industries, Government of India, said that his ministry is working consistently for the growth of the automotive sector. Acknowledging the rise in localisation supported by the PLI initiatives of government, Dr Pandey said that these efforts would make the industry more robust. He stressed on the need to develop EV charging infrastructure as well as manufacture quality products that would help the Indian automobile industry to be regarded as the best in the world. T V Narendran, President, CII and MD, Tata Steel Ltd, in his address, mentioned the need for the right policy support to make India a five-trillion-dollar economy by 2025-26. It is important that the Indian manufacturing sector is strong. He called on the auto industry to focus on six key areas – electric vehicles, circularity, urbanisation, resilient supply chain and an ability to reap in functionality and embed sustainability, going forward. 
 

R C Bhargava.

In his speech, Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog, said that the future direction of the auto industry is in the area of shared, connected and electric mobility. He opined that there are four prominent growth drivers that the industry should focus on. These include the expansion of investment in R&D, more focus on innovation in small format mobility segment, establishment of massive charging infrastructure across the country and provision of export impetus to the industry. Kant said that EV should be an integral part in every OEM’s plans. Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari spoke about the government’s aim to increase the contribution of the automotive sector towards the nation’s GDP. Currently, the sector contributes roughly 7.1 percent towards the GDP, he said. Revealing that the government would like to see the contribution rise to 12 percent, the union minister stated that it would amount to a huge step towards making India a five-trillion-dollar economy. Expressing gratitude to the dignitaries for their presence, Vipin Sondhi, Vice President, SIAM and MD, Ashok Leyland Ltd, drew attention towards the effect of Covid-19 on sales. 
 

Appreciating the efforts of the Ministry of Heavy Industries to create world-class testing and R&D infrastructure in all the auto hubs of the country, he spoke about how the auto industry will take advantage of localisation, PLI scheme and EV charging infrastructure. These efforts, he added, will contribute to the government’s initiative of ‘Make in India’. In a session focusing on the outlook of the Indian auto industry and its role in the economic growth, Venu Srinivasan, Chairman and Managing Director, TVS Motor Company, and R C Bhargava, Chairman, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd., drew attention to the new policies introduced over the past few years. The duo stressed on the high taxation structure on automobiles and the mandatory insurance costs. These, they said, have hugely bumped up the pricing to make vehicles expensive. Srinivasan touched on two-wheelers being taxed at 28 percent despite being the most basic means of transport. This, he added, is almost equal to cars which are a luxury item. Opining that the prices of vehicles have risen over the past few years with the switch to BS IV and subsequently to BS VI, and the change in safety norms, R C Bhargava mentioned that mounting challenges have had an effect on the sales. 
 

Venu Srinivasan.

Revenue Secretary Tarun Bajaj said that the government is open to discussing a change in Goods and Services Tax (GST) rates on automobiles. Seeking to know from the auto industry whether it is the GST rate on cars that is preventing the sector from growing, Bajaj questioned the reason behind SUV sales going up and not that of the cars in economic terms. Stating that the tax rates were higher in some states before GST came into force, he suggested the auto industry to examine in detail the reasons behind the dip in sales. Covid-19 and other factors could be at play, he reasoned. Bajaj called on the industry to keep pace with the changing technology.

Kenichi Ayukawa.

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Tata Consultancy Services, a leading IT services, consulting and business solutions company, has further expanded its capabilities in the rapidly evolving Software-Defined Vehicles (SDV) space with the addition of three new engineering centres in Europe. This marks the firm’s long-term strategy to strengthen its end-to-end automotive software capabilities, chip-to-cloud technologies and services.

The company has set up two new Automotive Delivery Centers in Germany – located in Munich and Villingen-Schwenningen as well as an engineering centre in Romania.

The German facilities the company shared will support automakers in developing and deploying TCS’ software-driven services that cater to autonomous driving, infotainment, safety systems and connected vehicle technologies. On the other hand, the Romanian facility will focus on designing and building advanced automotive software platforms to support early-stage development and innovation.

The new facilities will enable close collaboration with OEMs in Europe and global automotive enterprises.

At present, the company has onboarded over 100 professionals in Europe who will work together with more than 2,000 SDV Engineers across TCS global locations. This diverse and global talent pool will enable the development of next generation automotive platforms for digital cockpits and infotainment, advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), and other critical SDV functions — supporting the full product lifecycle from concept and development to production and post-launch support.

Regu Ayyaswamy, Senior Vice-President & Global Head, Internet of Things (IoT) and Digital Engineering at TCS, said, “These new centres will position TCS at the forefront of automotive innovation, enabling us to deliver state-of-the-art solutions in autonomous driving and advanced cockpit systems. This expansion reaffirms our commitment to leading the transformation in the Software-Defined Vehicles space.”

Anupam Singhal, President and Business Group Head, Manufacturing, TCS, said, “The shift to software-defined vehicles marks a defining moment for the automotive industry. With the launch of these new centres, we are deepening our commitment to support OEMs in building the next generation of intelligent, connected, and sustainable vehicles. This expansion is a key milestone in our journey toward Future-Ready Mobility — where software, engineering and design, backed by AI, converge to deliver safer, more personalised and continuously enriching experiences for drivers and passengers.”

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Maruti Suzuki India, the country’s largest passenger vehicle manufacturer, has announced the winners of the 9th Cohort of its flagship Accelerator program.

The winners include six Indian startups: Frinks AI, mistEO, Adagrad, Com Olho, ProSolvr and Eligere and three German startups: Caire AI, Syn2Core and Talonic, under the newly introduced Global Startups category. This marked the first global cohort where a total of 19 startups from India and 7 from Germany participated to showcase their ideas/solutions across domains such as AI, cybersecurity, road safety, quality control, EV charging infra and battery swapping among others.

Hisashi Takeuchi, Managing Director & CEO, Maruti Suzuki India, said, “Startups bring fresh thinking and new ideas. Through the Maruti Suzuki Accelerator program, we have been working with them to co-create future-ready solutions that enhance customer experience and drive operational efficiency in the automobile manufacturing and mobility space. The participation of global startups, this cohort onwards, marks a new milestone in this journey. It further supports our efforts to contribute meaningfully to ‘Make in India’ and ‘Startup India’ initiatives of the Government. We welcome the winning startups to join us in our mission to offer ‘Joy of Mobility’ to as many people as possible.”

Launched in January 2019, Maruti Suzuki India in the last six years, has screened over 5,000 startups, engaged with 150 startups and onboarded 25 startups partners.

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Shanghai-headquartered Inceptio Technology, a developer of autonomous truck technologies, has joined the Autoware Foundation, a global open alliance for autonomous driving tech.

As part of the understanding, Inceptio will collaborate with members of Autoware Foundation to advance innovation and accelerate the deployment of safe, scalable autonomous truck technologies.

Inceptio's technology portfolio covers L4, L3 and L2+ autonomous driving capabilities. It will leverage its proprietary full-stack Inceptio Autonomous Driving System - which features long-range perception, high-precision tractor and tailer control, fuel-efficient driving algorithm, as well as HPC specifically designed for truck's operating condition. This it shared improves safety, fuel efficiency and operational cost. Using data-driven R&D platform continuously refines core modules in real time, enabling rapid deployment and optimisation of autonomous truck technologies across diverse use cases in trucking.

Launched in 2018, the Autoware Foundation is a non-profit organisation dedicated to supporting open-source collaboration that accelerates the development of autonomous driving technology globally. It counts the likes of Tomtom, Robosense, NXP, Huawei, Hitachi, Capegemini, Foxconn, AMD and Amazon Web Services amongst its members.

Inceptio, on its part, was amongst the first to have launched the industry's first series production autonomous trucks in late 2021. Till date, Inceptio Autonomous Driving System is claimed to have has achieved over 200 million kilometres of commercial operations.

Shinpei Kato, Founder and Fellow, Autoware Foundation said, "We are excited to welcome Inceptio Technology to the Autoware Foundation. Inceptio's proven track record in autonomous trucking and deep industry and production expertise will be invaluable as we work together to build the next generation of autonomous mobility solutions for the trucking industry."

Inceptio will actively participate in the Autoware Foundation initiatives by contributing technology and use cases, exploring new applications, and forging global partnerships.

Julian Ma, Founder & CEO, Inception Technology, added, "We look forward to collaborating with a global open-source community of innovators to accelerate the development of autonomous driving technologies and extend the community's reach deep into truck segment. Our extensive experience in series production and insight from world's largest commercial deployment of autonomous truck uniquely position us to contribute to the Autoware Foundation, driving safer and more efficient logistics worldwide."

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Tata Elxsi, a global leader in design and technology services has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Infineon Technologies, a leading semiconductor solutions company, to jointly develop application-ready electric vehicle solutions tailored to the Indian market.

The partners will collaborate on design and integration expertise to drive faster adoption of automotive-grade, cost-efficient and safety-compliant subsystems across key mobility segments. This collaboration, the partners stated, aligns with India’s rapid shift towards electrification, with EV sales growing by 25–30 percent year-on-year in 2024, including a 28 percent increase in electric two- and three-wheeler sales.

As part of the understanding, Tata Elxsi will bring its design, system integration and validation capabilities, while Infineon will provide early access to its latest semiconductor technologies – such as silicon carbide (SiC)-based components, microcontrollers and integrated circuits (ICs).

The partners will work closely to develop high-voltage inverters for traction and auxiliary systems, scalable battery management systems (BMS), bi-directional onboard chargers and high-voltage thermal management solutions for the Indian market targeting two-wheeler, three-wheeler, passenger vehicles and commercial vehicle segments. In future, they also look to support eVTOL, energy and off-highway sectors.

Nambi Ganesh, Head – Automotive, Tata Elxsi, said, “Currently, several of our EV solutions are already built on Infineon SoCs and components. This MoU further strengthens our partnership by giving us a clearer scope and tighter system-level alignment, enabling shorter turnaround times to address Indian market requirements. As EV adoption scales, our focus remains on delivering production-ready, automotive standards-compliant platforms and solutions.”

Kenneth Lim, Senior Vice-President – Automotive, Infineon Technologies Asia Pacific, said, “At Infineon, we are committed to driving innovation in the electric vehicle sector and empowering our partners to bring cutting-edge technologies to market. This partnership with Tata Elxsi is a significant step in our journey to support India’s ambitious electrification goals. By combining Tata Elxsi's design and integration expertise with our advanced semiconductor solutions, we are not only enhancing the development of ready-to-deploy EV systems but also ensuring that they meet the highest safety and performance standards. Together, we aim to accelerate the adoption of electric mobility across various segments, from two-wheelers to commercial vehicles, and contribute to a more sustainable future for India.”

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