New Delhi, Sept 11, 2025: The 65th Annual Convention of the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (@SIAM) opened with a clear message: India’s auto sector is ready to lead, if policy, innovation, and industry move in sync. Government officials and auto industry leaders discussed a wide-ranging agenda for India’s mobility future, encompassing scrappage and GST reforms, electric mobility, software-driven innovation, exports, and self-reliance.
Gadkari Pushes Scrappage as Demand Booster
Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari set the tone by making a strong pitch for scrappage as a demand catalyst. He urged automakers to incentivise customers who arrive at showrooms with scrappage certificates, while also revealing that he had requested Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to consider additional GST concessions for such buyers.
“Scrapping vehicles will only help the automotive industry,” Gadkari said. He noted that three lakh vehicles were scrapped last month, including 1.41 lakh government-owned vehicles, and highlighted that nearly 97.4 lakh end-of-life vehicles are currently on Indian roads, representing a large untapped opportunity for replacement demand.
Kapoor Calls for R&D Push, Qureshi Flags Clean Mobility Transition
Policymakers used the SIAM platform to call for stronger innovation and deeper sustainability commitments. Tarun Kapoor, Adviser to the Prime Minister, urged the industry to significantly ramp up research and development, pointing to the recently approved ₹1-lakh crore Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) fund as a tool to help private sector innovation scale commercially. “On one side, we have our educational institutions, we have our government-owned R&D setup… On the other side, we have the industry, which has to guide innovation and also, I would say, lead innovation,” Kapoor said, stressing the need for industry-academia collaboration to secure leadership in breakthrough technologies.
Adding to this, Dr. Hanif Qureshi, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Heavy Industries, said the automotive sector stood at a pivotal juncture in its transition to green mobility. Policies such as FAME, PM E-Drive, and the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme were providing strong support, he said, enabling faster adoption of EVs and cleaner technologies. Qureshi assured industry leaders that the Ministry would continue acting as a facilitator, focusing on scaling up production, enhancing local value addition, and positioning India as a global hub for affordable and sustainable mobility solutions.
Industry Leaders See Exports and GST Reforms as Growth Engines
Industry leaders echoed this optimism, crediting reforms and global opportunities for setting the stage for sustained growth. Unsoo Kim, Executive Director, Hyundai Motor India Limited (HMIL), said alignment between central and state policies had already catalyzed progress and that the new GST reforms would give the sector further momentum. Calling the overhaul a “historic stride toward building a Viksit Bharat,” Kim argued that tax reductions on essential goods would energize domestic manufacturing and stimulate demand across both urban and rural markets. He added that collaboration between OEMs, startups, academia, technology firms, and government bodies would be critical for ecosystem-building, from infrastructure and digital solutions to workforce development, while also underscoring the auto industry’s role in the global green transition.
Shailesh Chandra, President of SIAM and Managing Director of Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles and Tata Passenger Electric Mobility, built on this outlook, noting that India had already achieved record milestones with five million vehicles exported and 20% growth in overseas shipments, buoyed by the recently signed UK free trade agreement. “This is just the beginning,” Chandra said. “We are now geared to transform this momentum into a new era of global leadership — turning partnerships into self-reliance and potential into unparalleled growth for an Atmanirbhar Bharat.”
Together, their comments reinforced the message that while reforms like GST have strengthened the domestic foundation, exports and global integration will be equally vital in driving India’s emergence as a mobility powerhouse.
Plenary Sessions Showcase Disruption and Innovation
The day’s plenary sessions underscored the breadth of technological change sweeping the industry. Discussions on global leadership in sustainable mobility featured insights from policymakers and consultants on how India could scale clean technologies. Another session turned the spotlight on software-defined vehicles (SDVs), with Dr. Christopher Borroni-Bird of AfreeCar calling them a “major disruption for automakers” and likening them to smartphones in their potential to redefine the user experience. Sri Subramanian of NVIDIA highlighted how generative AI is emerging as a strategic enabler of India’s automotive ambitions, while Andreas Tschiesner of McKinsey, Germany, forecast that by 2035, nearly 30% of all vehicles would be built on zonal E/E architectures, fundamentally altering OEM collaboration and revenue models.
Global Trade and Supply Chains Take Centre Stage
Global trade and supply chains formed the basis of the third discussion, with Rajesh Agrawal, Special Secretary in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, arguing that India’s next phase of growth would hinge on deeper integration into global supply chains, supported by free trade agreements with 27 countries. Sudhakar Dalela, Secretary (Economic Relations) at the Ministry of External Affairs, emphasised the need for supply chain diversification and building export competitiveness to secure India’s position in a volatile global economy.
A Sector at the Crossroads
Day One of SIAM 2025 ended on a note of cautious optimism. With scrappage, GST reforms, EV adoption, R&D funding, software-defined vehicles, and exports converging, India’s auto industry faces both unprecedented opportunities and daunting challenges. The alignment between government assurances and industry expectations will be crucial in determining whether India can establish itself as a global leader in the future of mobility.
