An electric vehicle on the road near India Gate in New Delhi, India on Aug 28, 2023. However, observers noted that New Delhi will be concerned about giving too much market access to its rival despite benefiting from increased Chinese investment.
“But India is a growth market and India is an attractive market. There is going to be a way India and China can end up working together,” Mr Sinha added.This was the result of an EU probe into alleged unfair state subsidies given to China’s car manufacturing industry that posed an economic threat to European rivals. It was also a bid by the bloc to tackle Chinese industrial overcapacity flooding the EU.
Mr Sinha noted: “Moves like this create manufacturing hubs – whether it's India, Indonesia, Japan, those EVs need to go to the US or the EU from somewhere, and there's nothing stopping India from being the manufacturing base for these things.Additionally, joint ventures with Chinese firms could help India develop its own manufacturing capabilities, Mr Sinha added.
Its EV sector is still in relative infancy, despite its status as the world’s most populous country and the third-largest auto market.The government aims to raise this figure to 30 per cent by 2030 and is pushing for more domestic manufacturing of EVs and their components.