Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for the Maruti Suzuki Vehicle Manufacturing Facility in Haryana and the Suzuki EV Battery Plant in Hansalpur, Gujarat on Sunday. The success of Maruti-Suzuki demonstrates the strength of the India-Japan alliance, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated during a session commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Suzuki Group in India. Also present at the event held were Satoshi Suzuki, the Japanese ambassador to India, Bhupendra Patel, Gujarat’s chief minister, and top management of Maruti Suzuki: Maruti-chairman Suzuki’s RC Bhargava, Suzuki Motor’s president T Suzuki, and CEO Osamu Suzuki.
Suzuki Motor Gujarat Electric Vehicle Battery Manufacturing facility would be established with an investment of approximately Rs 7,300 crore to produce batteries for Electric Vehicles (EVs). The project’s initial phase will require an expenditure of more than Rs 11,000 crore.
Rooting for electric vehicles, the Prime Minister said, “One of the benefits of electric vehicles is their quiet operation. Both two-wheeled and four-wheeled vehicles are silent. This stillness is not only a technical feat but also the start of a silent revolution in the country.” PM Modi stated that India will reach 50 per cent of its installed electrical capacity from non-fossil sources by 2030 and has set a ‘Net Zero’ objective for 2070.
“Today, various development initiatives, from the bullet train in Gujarat-Maharashtra to the Rudraksha centre in Banaras, are instances of Indo-Japanese friendship,” Modi said and expressed hope that Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will advance the bilateral relationship as a continuation of former Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe’s legacy. PM Modi emphasised that links between Gujarat and Japan have traditionally been beyond merely diplomatic ties. “Since the inception of the Vibrant Gujarat Summit in 2009, Japan has been associated with as a partner nation,” the Prime Minister remarked.
According to Bhargava Maruti Suzuki would start manufacturing EVs in Gujarat by 2035. Celebrating the relationship between Maruti Suzuki and Suzuki Japan in India, he went on to say, “This partnership has demonstrated that the mix of Japanese and Indian characteristics results in world-class competitiveness. 98% of our employees pay income tax, and a sizable proportion owns automobiles and homes. We realise the importance of a strong and competitive supply chain.”
The Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida also praised Suzuki’s management for seeing the potential of the Indian market and stated, “I believe we owe this success to the understanding and support of the Indian people and government. Under the able leadership of Prime Minister Modi, India’s economic growth has recently accelerated further due to various support measures for the industrial sector.”
Highlighting India’s significance to Suzuki Group, T Suzuki, the President of Suzuki Motor, stated, “During the last fiscal year, more than 16 lakh pieces, or almost sixty per cent, were manufactured in India. Additionally, India’s exports reached a new high of approximately 2,400,000 last year. Today, India plays an important role as the worldwide production hub for automobiles for Suzuki Group.”
Suzuki also announced the formation of Suzuki R&D Center India, a new firm wholly owned by Suzuki Japan. He further added that the new company’s purpose is to “strengthen our R&D competitiveness and capabilities in new domains of technology, not just for India but also for worldwide markets.”
