During his two-day visit to Gujarat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate a major milestone in India’s electric mobility journey by flagging off Suzuki’s first global battery electric vehicle (BEV), the e-Vitara, at the company’s manufacturing facility in Hansalpur near Ahmedabad. This marks Suzuki’s entry into the global EV market from India, with the e-Vitara set to be exported to over 100 countries, making it the first such initiative by an automobile company in the country.
The export of the Made-in-India BEVs will bring in more than a hundred countries, including the developed markets of Europe and Japan, according to the government release. Alongside, on the same day, August 26, PM Modi will also launch the next phase of lithium-ion battery production in India itself with local manufacturing of hybrid battery electrodes at the TDS Lithium-Ion Battery plant in Gujarat. The plant, which is a joint venture of Toshiba, Denso, and Suzuki, will drive up domestic manufacturing and clean energy development. This will mean that the battery value will now be manufactured in India in excess of 80 percent, the release said.
“Till 2014, India used to export automobiles worth around Rs 50,000 crore. Today India is exporting automobiles worth Rs 1.2 lakh crore in a year. Today we have started exporting everything from metro coaches and rail coaches to locomotives. By the way, since I have come amongst you, let me tell you about another success of India. India is now going to export electric vehicles to 100 countries of the world. A major event related to this is scheduled for August 26,” said Modi.
But the visit by PM Modi to Gujarat would start with a public program on Monday evening in the Nikol locality of Ahmedabad. On the occasion, he will provide the foundation stone and even accept for the country various development works worth 5,400 crores. These projects comprise various railway projects amounting to above 1400 crore. It entails doubling the 65 km. Mehsana-Palanpur Rail Line amounting to more than 530 crore and gauge conversion of the 37 km Kalol-Kadi-Katosan Road Rail Line and the 40 km Bechraji-Ranuj Rail Line amounting to over 860 crore. It will improve connectivity with the industrial belts in the state, making the freight train service with its cars loaded in Bechraji a strong support to the logistics system.
In a major boost to the power sector in Gujarat, the Prime Minister will inaugurate power distribution schemes in Ahmedabad, Mehsana, and Gandhinagar under the Uttar Gujarat Vij Company Limited (UGVCL) as part of measures initiated to reduce loss, modernize the network, and build stronger infrastructure under the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme, the release said. These projects are valued at over 1000 crores and are predicted to alleviate the frequency of power cuts and failures during bad weather, enhance citizen security, and reduce glitches in power transformers and the resiliency of the power distribution system.
