National Resilience | Mobility Sovereignty | Strategic Preparedness
The Sector at a Glance
The automotives and automobiles sector covers the design, manufacture, sale and lifecycle support of the vehicles that move Bharat's people and goods: two-wheelers and three-wheelers, passenger cars, buses, light and heavy commercial vehicles, tractors and off-road machinery, and the rapidly growing electric vehicle segment. Behind each vehicle stands a deep and tiered component industry producing engines and powertrains, transmissions, castings and forgings, chassis and body parts, tyres, batteries, electric motors and power electronics, lighting, sensors, electronic control units and the embedded software that increasingly defines how a vehicle behaves.
The scope of this tab extends beyond vehicle production to the full-stack mobility ecosystem. It covers advanced materials and critical minerals, automotive semiconductors, battery cells and recycling, charging and refuelling infrastructure, hydrogen and alternative fuel systems, connected, autonomous and software-defined vehicles, testing, homologation and safety certification, dealer and service networks, and end-of-life recycling. The sector is undergoing a structural transition from conventional manufacturing toward a technologically intensive, clean, connected and globally competitive mobility system; and it is the ownership of this complete chain, rather than final assembly alone, that determines whether Bharat leads that transition or follows it.
Why This Sector Is Critical
The automotive sector is not merely a consumer industry; it is a strategic manufacturing backbone. Its machining, casting, forging, tooling and electronics capacity is the same industrial base on which defence vehicles, logistics fleets, emergency response systems and engineering exports draw, and in times of crisis it provides surge capability that a nation cannot conjure from nothing. Road transport also carries the larger share of Bharat's freight and passenger movement, which means that vehicle availability and fleet continuity are directly tied to food distribution, medical supply, fuel delivery and the functioning of every other sector.
The structural vulnerabilities of the sector are shifting rather than disappearing. Conventional vehicles depend on imported crude oil; electric vehicles depend on lithium, cobalt, nickel, rare earth magnets and battery cells, whose mining and refining remain concentrated in a few external jurisdictions; and every modern vehicle depends on semiconductors whose shortage has already halted production lines worldwide. Connected vehicles add a cyber dimension, in which fleets and charging networks become potential points of attack. If chip, cell or magnet supply is cut, assembly stops, dealer networks dry up and a very large employment base is placed at risk; and this is why the BAP-I mandate treats mobility supply chains as a matter of sovereign capability.
The Bharat Context
Bharat has built one of the largest automotive industries in the world, with strong capability in two-wheelers, small cars, tractors and commercial vehicles, an extensive component base, and a growing export presence in vehicles and parts. Yet depth remains uneven. Many high-value electronic systems, semiconductors, battery cells, permanent magnets, specialised steels and production equipment are still imported; indigenous design capability in powertrain electronics, vehicle software and advanced driver assistance is limited relative to the size of the market; and a large section of lower-tier MSME suppliers lacks the capital and technology to move into electric and software-defined architectures.
The enabling framework is, however, broad. The PLI scheme for Automobile and Auto Components, the PLI scheme for Advanced Chemistry Cell battery storage, the FAME India scheme and its successor PM E-DRIVE, the National Green Hydrogen Mission, the India Semiconductor Mission and the National Critical Mineral Mission together address manufacturing, batteries, adoption, fuels, chips and raw materials. Bharat Stage emission norms, the Bharat New Car Assessment Programme and the vehicle scrappage policy shape standards and fleet renewal, while ARAI and ICAT provide testing and homologation capacity, and PM Gati Shakti and the National Logistics Policy define the infrastructure into which vehicles operate. What remains missing is an integrated assessment of where the mobility supply chain is most exposed, and a research-to-resilience pathway that connects incentives, minerals, chips, skills and infrastructure; and BAP-I seeks to provide that platform through this tab.
Importance of the Sector
Economy
The automotive sector is one of the largest contributors to manufacturing output in Bharat and among its most important engineering export earners. Its linkages run backward into steel, aluminium, rubber, glass, plastics, electronics and machine tools, and forward into finance, insurance, logistics, fuel retail, servicing and road infrastructure, so that growth in vehicle production lifts a very wide industrial base. Localisation of batteries, power electronics, semiconductors and magnets would retain more of the value of each vehicle within the country, reduce the import bill and insulate production schedules from external shocks. The transition to clean mobility also reduces long-term exposure to imported crude oil.
Employment
The sector sustains employment across a long chain that runs from large assembly plants and tier-one suppliers to thousands of small component makers, tool rooms, dealerships, workshops, drivers and roadside mechanics. The shift to electric, connected and software-defined vehicles will change the skill profile sharply: it calls for battery engineers, power electronics designers, embedded software developers, cybersecurity specialists, data analysts and technicians trained in high-voltage systems. Reskilling of the existing workforce, particularly in conventional engine and transmission component clusters, is therefore as important as training new entrants, and vocational training must keep pace with what industry actually needs.
Entrepreneurship
Mobility is opening new space for start-ups and MSMEs. Enterprises are emerging in electric two-wheelers and three-wheelers, battery packs and battery management systems, charging equipment and networks, motor and controller design, telematics and fleet software, battery swapping, refurbishment and recycling, and component remanufacturing. Shared testing facilities, access to homologation, credit for capital equipment and assured demand from public fleets can help such firms scale. It is argued that the next generation of Bharat's automotive champions may well emerge from this new ecosystem; provided that technology access and supply chain linkages are available to them on fair terms.
Partnership
The sector calls for partnership between OEMs and their tiered suppliers for joint localisation, between industry and testing agencies for faster and safer certification, between academia and manufacturers for battery, materials and software research, and between public transport undertakings and manufacturers for electric bus and fleet deployment. Collaboration with trusted international partners in critical minerals, cell chemistry and semiconductors can accelerate capability, provided that it is structured to transfer technology rather than deepen dependency. BAP-I positions itself as the convening platform where these stakeholders can meet on shared research questions.
Research Focus Possibilities
BAP-I invites original research articles, policy papers, technical reports, diagnostic assessments, case studies and white papers across the following indicative research streams. The list is open-ended; contributions that connect a new question to the resilience objective of this tab are equally welcome.
A. Supply Chain Resilience and Critical Inputs
- Mapping of tiered supplier networks, including MSMEs, and identification of single-source dependencies in automotive electronics, magnets and specialised materials
- Supply risk modelling for lithium, cobalt, nickel, graphite and rare earth inputs to battery and motor production, and options for domestic or diversified sourcing
- Integration of domestic semiconductor initiatives with automotive-grade chip demand, qualification and packaging requirements
- Buffer stock, dual sourcing and inventory strategies for high-risk automotive components
B. Electric, Hydrogen and Alternative Fuel Mobility
- Battery chemistries suited to Indian climate and duty cycles, including sodium-ion and solid-state pathways, and the economics of cell recycling
- Charging infrastructure planning across urban, peri-urban and highway networks, and grid integration of large-scale EV charging
- Feasibility of hydrogen fuel cell and other alternative fuel vehicles for long-haul freight and public transport
- Comparative lifecycle assessment of electric, hydrogen, hybrid, CNG and biofuel pathways under Indian conditions
C. Connected, Autonomous and Software-Defined Vehicles
- Cybersecurity frameworks for connected vehicles, telematics platforms and charging networks
- Data governance, privacy and regulatory architecture for vehicle-generated data
- Indigenous capability in vehicle control software, sensors and driver assistance systems suited to Indian road conditions
- Vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication within smart city and highway systems
D. Industrial Policy, Skills and Strategic Linkages
- Evaluation of PLI and demand incentive schemes on localisation, investment and export competitiveness
- Workforce transition from conventional powertrain manufacturing to electric and electronic systems, with cluster-level case studies
- Role of the automotive industrial base in defence mobility, emergency response fleets and surge manufacturing
- Vehicle scrappage, remanufacturing and end-of-life recovery as a source of secondary materials
Who Can Participate
This tab invites participation from vehicle and component manufacturers, MSME supplier clusters, battery, motor and power electronics firms, testing and certification agencies such as ARAI and ICAT, IITs, NITs and engineering institutions, CSIR laboratories working on materials and energy storage, DRDO units engaged in vehicle and mobility systems, public transport undertakings and fleet operators, charging and energy companies, automotive industry associations, state industrial development bodies, policy think tanks, international collaborators and individual researchers with domain expertise. Contributions from practitioners, policymakers and academics carry equal standing within the BAP-I research framework.
The Resilience Objective
Every contribution under this tab must serve one purpose: strengthening Bharat's capacity to protect, sustain and advance its automotive and mobility manufacturing base as a sovereign, clean and globally competitive national asset. BAP-I treats research here as the instrument through which supply chain exposure in minerals, chips and cells is identified, measured and closed.
