Automobiles

The automobile industry is one of India's manufacturing pillars. Total vehicle production rose from about 19 million units in 2014 to over 28 million by 2024, dominated by two-wheelers (about 70%) and a fast-growing passenger-car segment. India is among the world's largest producers of two-wheelers, three-wheelers and cars.

The mix is changing fast: SUVs now make up half of passenger-vehicle sales, exports have grown to around 48 lakh vehicles a year, and electric vehicles are the new growth frontier, backed by FAME and PM E-DRIVE. The ₹25,938 crore auto PLI scheme and heavy investment by Maruti, Hyundai, Tata, Mahindra and new entrants like BYD are expanding capacity toward global-hub scale.

India is now the world's third-largest car market and the largest maker of two- and three-wheelers, built on a deep base of domestic and foreign carmakers (Maruti Suzuki, Tata, Mahindra, Hyundai) and a vast components industry. The state shapes the shift to electric with two levers: subsidies (FAME, now the PM E-Drive scheme) that cut the sticker price of EVs, and a PLI scheme that rewards making advanced vehicles and batteries at home.

The defining challenge is the electric transition — EVs are still a small share of car sales but growing fast, led by two-wheelers and buses. The next decade's task is spreading charging beyond big cities, building battery-cell manufacturing at home (today mostly imported), and managing the shift without stranding the millions of jobs tied to petrol-engine components.

The balancing act ahead is the EV shift — moving to electric while protecting existing engine-component jobs, and building more battery cells at home.

~19 → ~28 million vehicles/year (2014→2024). ~3.5 crore+ jobs. ~48 lakh exported. Auto PLI ₹25,938 crore. Sources: SIAM, IBEF.