Executives from AUMOVIO, Lumax Auto, Gulf Oil, and other major players outlined their strategies for reducing import dependence while highlighting persistent challenges.
11 Nov 2025 | 2027 Views | By Yukta Mudgal & Shruti Shiraguppi
Industry leaders at Autocar Professional's India EV Conclave emphasized the urgent need for deep localization of components and prioritizing software development to make India's electric vehicle ecosystem globally competitive.
Speaking at a panel discussion on "Building the EV Value Chain: The Road to Deep Localisation" at Hyatt Regency ...
This is an Autocar Pro Plus article. Subscribe to continue reading.
Industry leaders at Autocar Professional's India EV Conclave emphasized the urgent need for deep localization of components and prioritizing software development to make India's electric vehicle ecosystem globally competitive.
Speaking at a panel discussion on "Building the EV Value Chain: The Road to Deep Localisation" at Hyatt Regency Delhi, executives from AUMOVIO, Lumax Auto, Gulf Oil, and other major players outlined their strategies for reducing import dependence while highlighting persistent challenges.
Prashanth Doreswamy, President and CEO of AUMOVIO India, stressed that growth in the automotive sector is increasingly coming from software and software-based services, advocating for prioritizing R&D localization in software first. His remarks come as localization levels for critical electric vehicle components such as motors and controllers remain at only 30-40% in India as of 2024.
Doreswamy also made a pointed observation about the nature of EV adoption in India, stating that "electrification is forced on us through policies, not consumer demand driven," highlighting the gap between regulatory push and market pull.
Vikas Marwah, CEO of Lumax Auto Industries, revealed his company's pragmatic approach to the EV transition. "We are not into battery packs, motors...what we are focusing on is semiconductor resilience and that is where the pain lies," he said. Marwah disclosed that Lumax had abandoned its pursuit of Production Linked Incentive (PLI) benefits about two years ago despite being selected. "Even if we spend several crores on it, we did not see when the demand visibility would emerge. Secondly, there were supply chain challenges that were emerging. So we went back to the drawing board and decided to focus on remaining fuel agnostic in our product portfolio."
Despite these challenges, Marwah reported strong growth, noting that Lumax has "grown 5x in revenue over the past five years by focusing on the aggressive India strategy."
Ravi Chawla, MD and CEO of Gulf Oil Lubricants India, announced that his company has achieved approximately 55% localization in chargers and software for charging, with plans to increase this further. The company is working with Tirex on testing capabilities for charger servicing, conducting R&D, and identifying localization opportunities.
Ashim Sharma from Nomura Research Institute emphasized India's competitive advantage in prototype development at lower costs and called for a circular economy approach. "From a circular standpoint, we should be focused on recycling of battery materials and rare earths, and on implementing concepts such as battery passports," he said.
The localization challenge remains significant. India imports 92% of its rare earth metals from China, which controls 79% of the global rare earth metals market, making the localization of permanent magnet production particularly difficult.
The India Electric Vehicle Market size is estimated at 54.41 billion USD in 2025 and is expected to reach 110.7 billion USD by 2029, growing at a CAGR of 19.44%, creating both enormous opportunities and challenges for the local supply chain.
Rishabh Upadhyay from BASF noted that achieving 30% localization is possible "provided the pace has to be pertinent," while acknowledging that raw materials could be sourced from Europe, Japan, and Korea as alternatives to China, though at potentially higher costs.
Karn Nagpal from Rosmerta Technologies reported that most of their hardware is already localized, and for modules currently sourced from European partners, they aim to transition to local sourcing once semiconductor fabs in India become operational in the next few years.
The consensus among leaders was clear: while India has made progress in localizing mechanical components and assembly, the real challenge and opportunity lies in electronics, semiconductors, software, and rare earth materials – areas where strategic investments and policy support remain critical.