Want to make India top auto hub, double industry to ₹15 lakh cr: Gadkari

Union road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari today said he would like to more than double the size of the Indian automobile industry to ₹15 lakh crore from the current ₹6.5 lakh crore by the end of 2025.

Stressing that it is the endeavour of the government to make India a global auto manufacturing hub, Gadkari also pointed out that with the increasing size of the industry and growing vehicles on roads, it is a "responsibility" to ensure safer roads.

"Automobile industry is (an) important industry having a turnover ₹6.5 lakh crore. Out of this ₹3 lakh crore is exports. Bajaj Auto, TVS and Hero are exporting 50% of their capacity. This industry employs 4.5 crore young talents of this country and accounts for highest revenue to Centre and states in the form of GST. This is a very important industry and my dream is to make this industry worth ₹15 lakh crore by end 2025," Gadkari said at safety pioneers conference (charting course for technology in road safety) by Intel.

"We want to make Indian automobile industry the number one automobile hub in the world. All reputed global brands are present in India and we have a young automobile engineering talent. Our raw material cost is reasonably good. With increase in the size of the industry and number of vehicles on road it is our responsibility to ensure safer roads as we are facing a lot of problems," Gadkari said.

Gadkari said digital technological adoption is necessary in road engineering, vehicle engineering, and enforcement.

Gadkari also attributed road accidents to faulty detailed project reports. "DPRs are of poor quality. The principle in DPR is that lowest bid is the best bid. That is the problem with the DPRs. We need to use new technologies to prepare DPRs," Gadkari added.

During the conference, Intel showcased onboard fleet services ("Solution") - AI-powered fleet safety solution for commercial vehicles. "As a first of its kind initiative, this comprehensive Solution brings world-class and road-tested technology, exclusively designed for Indian conditions. It offers collision avoidance systems, driver monitoring systems, fleet telematics, fleet health, and fuel efficiency features," the company said in a release.

The solution is already deployed by Sure Group Logistics, Sankyu India Logistics, Allanasons across sectors such as HAZMAT, Cold Chain, Third-Party Logistics (3PL) and Employee Transport, said Intel, while claiming that the technology can reduce the probability of accidents by 40-60% and estimates that overall efficiency losses can be reduced by up to 50%.