Indian Automotive Industry To Take Top Spot Globally By 2030: Gadkari

The government's aim is to make India's automobile industry the number one in the world in the next five years, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said on Tuesday. Launching a report prepared by The Express Industry Council of India (EICI) and KPMG, Gadkari said the future of express industry is very good in the country. "The size of Indian automobile industry is now Rs 22 lakh crore... my aim is to make India's automobile industry number one in the world in the next five years," Gadkari said.

The minster further said when he took charge of the transport ministry in 2014, the size of the automobile industry was Rs 7.5 lakh crore and today its size is Rs 22 lakh crore.

Presently, the size of the US automobile industry is Rs 78 lakh crore, followed by China (Rs 47 lakh crore) and India (Rs 22 lakh crore).

Gadkari said the dream of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is to make India third largest economy in the world and logistics sector will play an important role in achieving this dream.

Gadkari said until recently, logistics cost in India was about 16 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP).

"I want to share that, according to a joint IIM-IIT survey, we have brought this (logistics cost) down to 10 per cent.

"That is a major milestone and we are aiming to bring logistics cost down to single-digit soon," Gadkari said.

The minister credited the fall in logistics cost to massive investments in expressway and economic corridors.

According to the report titled 'Powering India's Economy, Connecting Business and Markets', express industry contributes USD 1-1.5 billion GST and USD 650 million to customs revenue annually.

"The size of express industry sector is projected to double from USD 9 billion in FY25 to USD 18-22 billion by 2030, creating 6.5-7.5 million jobs," it said.

The report noted that the express industry has transformed from a logistics facility to an essential service provider.

Domestic express accounts for about 70 per cent of the total market, valued at USD 6.3-6.5 billion, with surface express contributing the largest share, it added.

The report added that international express segment with a share of about 30 per cent, handled 19.5 million shipment, weighing about 1,52,300 tonnes in FY24.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)