Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday lauded Maruti Suzuki’s drive towards self-reliance in the electric vehicle segment, describing the company as a brand ambassador of the government’s ‘Make in India’
initiative.
PM Modi inaugurated Maruti Suzuki’s electric car and battery plant in Ahmedabad today. The facility will manufacture hybrid battery electrodes, while the company’s first global battery electric vehicle (BEV) — the e-VITARA — is set to be exported to more than 100 countries, including Japan and several European markets.
“In this fervour of Ganesh Utsav, today a new chapter is being added to India’s ‘Make in India’ journey. This is a big leap towards our goal of ‘Make in India, Make for the World’. From today, electric vehicles made in India will be exported to 100 countries. Along with this, hybrid battery electrolyte manufacturing is also starting today,” said PM Modi.
#WATCH | Ahmedabad, Gujarat: Prime Minister Narendra Modi says, “In this fervour of Ganesh Utsav, today a new chapter is being added to India’s ‘Make in India’ journey. This is a big leap towards our goal of ‘Make in India, Make for the World’. From today, electric vehicles made… pic.twitter.com/jX47afhgnh
— ANI (@ANI) August 26, 2025
Recalling the developments during his tenure as Gujarat CM, PM Modi said: “The seeds of India’s success story were sown 13 years ago when we allotted land to Maruti Suzuki. In 2012, when I was the Chief Minister here, we had allotted land to Maruti Suzuki in Hansalpur.”
Hybrid battery electrode production will commence at the TDS Lithium-Ion Battery facility — a joint venture of Toshiba, Denso, and Suzuki. The move will enable India to manufacture over 80 per cent of battery value locally.
“The most critical part of the EV ecosystem is the battery. Until a few years ago, batteries in India were entirely imported. To strengthen EV manufacturing, it was necessary to start battery production in Bharat as well,” PM Modi remarked.
He added that the BJP government, with a vision of achieving self-reliance, laid the foundation of the TDSG battery plant in 2017. “In this factory, three Japanese companies will jointly manufacture cells.”
India-Japan Ties
PM Modi said that Maruti Suzuki has emerged as a “brand ambassador” of the government’s Make in India initiative, highlighting how Suzuki cars made in India are now being exported back to Japan.
“Today, you can see that Suzuki, Japan, is manufacturing in India, and the cars are being exported back to Japan. This is not only a sign of the strengthening ties between Japan and India but also reflects the confidence that global companies have in Bharat,” he said.
