How important is the auto-component industry in building a strong and competitive EV manufacturing ecosystem in India?

India’s drive towards a future of zero-emission mobility fundamentally relies on a robust local supply chain. To serve domestic manufacturers and truly strengthen India’s position as an EV component exports hub, the Indian auto-component industry must step up. The responsibility lies heavily on the supply chain to make electrification commercially viable, scalable, and efficient.

As India's EV market grows, the demand for quality components will only accelerate. While we at SWITCH have achieved 60-70 per cent localisation by thorough and strong concerted approach. The demand is clearly there. As per the Automotive Component Manufacturers Association (ACMA), India imported components worth $25.4 billion in FY26, witnessing a growth of 13 per cent compared to FY25. Local auto-component manufacturers will have to enhance their capabilities and scale up to fulfil the needs of this rapidly evolving market.

Going forward, the scale of this opportunity is massive. If we go by the projections in a recent report by the India Energy Storage Alliance and Customized Energy Solutions (CES), the Indian EV component market is projected to rise to ~Rs 3020 billion by 2032, reflecting a CAGR of ~38 per cent compared to 2025. With the Delhi Electric Vehicle Policy 2026 and the Parivartan scheme, next year will be significant in the electrification and modernisation journey of the city’s public transportation. From January 2027, the State government will permit registration of only electric buses, 3-Wheelers, and N1 goods vehicles.

This phase of growth will require deeper readiness by building capacity and capability. The goal should be to deliver long-term economic value and ensure a sustainable, competitive manufacturing ecosystem for the entire country.

Which critical EV components still depend heavily on imports, and what steps are required to increase their localisation?

Which EV components continue to rely heavily on imports, what challenges are limiting their domestic manufacturing, and what measures are needed to accelerate localisation in India?

India has made meaningful progress in localising several EV components, especially vehicle structures, chassis, suspension systems and other mechanical parts. At SWITCH Mobility, we have already achieved around 70 per cent localisation across our electric buses and light commercial vehicles. However, critical

components such as battery cells, semiconductor chips, power electronics, permanent magnets, battery management systems and certain electronic control systems still depend heavily on imports. Battery systems alone account for nearly 35–40 per cent of an EV's overall cost, making their localisation critical to improving cost competitiveness and strengthening supply chain resilience.

The challenge is not just assembling these components domestically, but building the complete ecosystem around them, including battery cell manufacturing, semiconductor capabilities, advanced materials, supplier development, specialised engineering talent and access to critical minerals. Going forward, stronger policy support, deeper industry collaboration and sustained investments in R&D will be essential to accelerate localisation, and reduce import dependence.

How can India become more self-reliant in EV manufacturing while also meeting global standards for quality, safety and performance?

Self-reliance in EV manufacturing is not just about increasing localisation. It is about building globally competitive capabilities across design, engineering, manufacturing and innovation. Electrification is on a positive trajectory. Going forward, the industry should focus on strengthening domestic R&D, expanding advanced manufacturing, developing a robust supplier ecosystem and accelerating battery and semiconductor manufacturing.

At the same time, global competitiveness must be built on quality and safety. At SWITCH, we intend to invest at least 10 per cent of revenue in new products, technology and capacity enhancement. Over the next two to two-and-a-half years, we plan to launch 10-15 new models and variants across buses and commercial vehicles.

Adherence to stringent standards such as AIS-038, rigorous product validation and continuous investments in technology and skill development will be critical to ensuring that Indian-made EVs meet global benchmarks for reliability, safety and performance. All our vehicles undergo extensive validation and testing to ensure reliability across different operating conditions. We also have a unique MPAS-enabled chassis production line that helps ensure defect-free vehicles are produced at the manufacturing stage itself.

What role can Indian auto-component manufacturers play in reducing EV costs and accelerating large-scale adoption?

Indian component manufacturers will be central to improving the affordability and accessibility of electric vehicles. Greater localisation helps reduce logistics costs, minimise exposure to foreign exchange fluctuations and improve supply chain responsiveness, all of which contribute to lowering the overall cost of ownership. At Switch, around 60-70 per cent of the vehicle value is localised. 

Our parent company is investing in battery manufacturing capabilities, which will help improve localisation and, in turn, drive adoption further over time. Beyond cost, domestic suppliers also enable faster product development, quicker engineering changes and stronger collaboration between OEMs and technology partners. This becomes particularly important as EV technologies continue to evolve rapidly.

As manufacturing volumes increase, economies of scale across batteries, motors, electronics and other critical components will further improve cost competitiveness. This will ultimately benefit fleet operators and customers by making electric mobility commercially attractive across a wider range of applications.

How are automation, AI and connected technologies across manufacturing and enterprise operations to improve productivity, quality, precision and overall efficiency?

We believe the real value of AI is not in replacing people, but in helping people make better decisions. At Switch Mobility, we're using automation to improve manufacturing efficiency, AI to derive insights from data, and connected technologies to monitor vehicle performance throughout its lifecycle. The result is better productivity, improved quality, higher uptime and, most importantly, a better customer experience. That's where we believe the industry is heading from automated factories to intelligent enterprises.

Internally, we've also introduced AI through SMartIE, our digital co-worker, to improve employee productivity and simplify day-to-day activities. So for us, AI is not confined to manufacturing alone; it spans engineering, operations, service, and enterprise functions.

We can currently produce around 5,000 buses annually through our facilities in North and South India, which can be doubled quickly as demand increases. SWITCH's new Lucknow plant includes unique features such as double-decker robotic painting systems and conveyor-based automatic metrology. These capabilities will significantly enhance production speed and precision.

How have government policies and incentive schemes accelerated EV adoption in India, and what ecosystem support is now needed to sustain the next phase of growth in electric mobility?

For the last decade, the adoption of electric and zero-emission transport systems across Indian cities has been driven by strong policy support, regulatory momentum and improving economics. Government programmes such as FAME-I, FAME-II, PM e-Bus Sewa and the PM E-Drive scheme, have been key enablers of electrification, particularly in public transport. As per estimates, industry volumes are projected to nearly double from around 5,300 buses last year to over 25,000 buses by FY30. 

Moreover, the effectiveness of these policies lies in their ability to create an enabling ecosystem that brings together infrastructure readiness, procurement visibility and long-term operational viability for fleet operators.

Today, the industry is entering a much stronger acceleration phase. Alongside continued push by OEMs, these forward-thinking policies need to be supported with world-class product quality, reliability, aftersales capability, and robust charging infrastructure. This will require domestic EV and component manufacturers to innovate and evolve.