Automobile giants prefer Gujarat for production of electric, hybrid vehicles

Gandhinagar, September 29: Electric and hybrid vehicles are the only way to save the non-renewable resources like petrol and diesel and also to stop the pollution in India. Therefore, Gujarat, which is known as automobile manufacturing hub is now emerging as the most preferred destination for the production of electric and hybrid vehicles.

 

The automobile giants like Maruti Suzuki, JSW Group and MG Motors have announced to enter the electric vehicles market in India, with Gujarat being their preferred manufacturing destination. However, this comes quickly after the central government said it wanted only electric vehicles to ply on Indian roads by 2030.

Maruti Suzuki along with Toshiba will jointly invest Rs 1,135 crore for setting up a battery pack manufacturing plant in Gujarat that will start production in 2020. Meanwhile, JSW Group has signed an agreement with the Gujarat government, following up on its plan to invest up to Rs 40 billion to build electric cars, batteries and charging infrastructure, as part of the power company's diversification plans to drive future growth.

Also, China's SAIC Motor Corp had also signed a MoU with the Gujarat government to set up a passenger car manufacturing facility at Halol in Panchmahals district of Gujarat with an investment of Rs 2,000 crore. The company will begin production from 2019.

Other automobile giants including Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra and Ford Motor Company had also hinted at an important announcement in a few weeks on its electric vehicle programme. On the other side, Gujarat also plans to host the production of electric bikes following the agreement signed by the state government with a Chinese manufacturer for setting up a factory for the same.