MHI begins work on long-term automobile policy plan for India's 2047 goal

Mint

17-07-2025

New Delhi: The Union ministry of heavy industries (MHI) on Thursday said it had begun working on a long-term automobile sector policy roadmap aligned with the goal of making India a developed nation by 2047. This plan, called the Automotive Mission Plan (AMP) 2047, involves seven sub-committees made up of all stakeholders including other line ministries, industry associations, as well as academia, a statement by the heavy industries said. The purpose of this long-term plan is to tackle challenges such as technological advancements and charging infrastructure, according to MHI.
The inaugural meeting of the AMP 2047 Sub-Committees was held to outline the objectives and framework, the statement said.
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MHI additional secretary Hanif Qureshi said, 'The vision for 2047 is not an aspiration but a strategic roadmap backed by concrete targets for sector growth, exports, and industry advancement. We must think beyond specific technologies or companies and focus on India's global standing in 2047, aiming to increase our share in global automotive trade through innovation and quality.'
The AMP 2047, which will set interim goals for 2030, 2037, and 2047, follows previous AMPs which applied to a decade each – 2006-16 and 2016-26.
A clear policy pathway for the auto sector in the form of AMP 2047 assumes importance as it contributes about 7.1% of India's total economic output and nearly half of the country's manufacturing output, according to an April 2025 NITI Aayog statement.
Representatives of the ministries of commerce, environment, forest and climate change, power, road transport and highways, petroleum and natural gas, along with industry bodies such as Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam), Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (Acma), Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (Ficci) were a part of the inaugural meeting for AMP 2047, the MHI statement said. Academic institutions, research think tanks and testing agencies would also provide inputs to AMP 2047.
The Centre's focus on a clear long-term automobile sector policy comes at a time when the industry is divided over state policies regarding clean mobility.
India, the world's third largest automobile market by sales, has policies such as the PM E-drive scheme and the production-linked incentive scheme for automobiles and auto parts (PLI-Auto) to promote the manufacturing and adoption of zero-emission vehicles.
India's electric vehicle market has been gaining momentum, with sales rising about 17% in FY25 over the previous fiscal, according to the Vahan portal. Over 1.9 million EVs were sold in India in FY25, compared with about 1.6 million in FY24.
The push for clean mobility, however, has recently faced hurdles, with automakers divided on whether the government should incentivize strong hybrid vehicles. But the government has remained steadfast, and has committed to supporting all forms of clean mobility, Mint reported earlier, citing union heavy industries minister H.D. Kumaraswamy in an email interview.
Decarbonization, however, is only one of the headwinds that India's auto sector is facing. A strict export control on rare earth magnets – a critical component in the auto sector – by China has pushed Indian automakers a step closer towards potential production cuts.
Mint reported in July 2024 that work was underway to formulate a structure on AMP 2047 with a focus on vehicles running on various powertrains including fossil fuels, flex fuels, batteries, and green hydrogen, citing officials aware of the development.
The currently ongoing AMP 2016-26 focuses on upskilling of the workforce in the auto sector, and promoting exports. According to data provided by Siam and quoted by the heavy industries ministry in a parliamentary disclosure, the country's auto sector provided direct and indirect employment to about 30.7 million people in FY20.
"For a country as diverse and demand-sensitive as India, an all-inclusive approach is non-negotiable. AMP 2047 must unify fragmented policy signals into a coherent national strategy - one that accelerates localization, de-risks investments, and positions India as a global mobility hub,' said Randheer Singh, former director of electric mobility, NITI Aayog.
Singh added that India's auto sector is transforming from fragmented to integrated policy regimes. 'The biggest challenge isn't just technological. It is synchronizing market evolution with regulatory certainty and long-term capital planning.'