New Industrial Priorities
As Make in India completes 12 years, the Confederation of Indian Industry says the country's manufacturing story is entering a more demanding phase: one defined less by the scale of new factories and more by the depth of capability inside them. The industry body said India's manufacturing sector is increasingly focused on building domestic supply chains, developing technology, and strengthening links with global markets, reflecting a broader transition from assembly-led growth to value-added industrial competitiveness.
That shift matters especially in automotive, electric vehicles and mobility, where the next round of growth will depend not only on production volumes but also on component localisation, advanced engineering, software integration and supply-chain resilience. CII's assessment suggests that the original Make in India objective of attracting investment and expanding industrial capacity is now giving way to a more complex challenge: making India a reliable, high-quality manufacturing base that can compete internationally on cost, innovation and delivery.
The timing is significant. Over the past decade, India has sought to position itself as an alternative manufacturing destination amid global supply-chain disruptions, geopolitical realignments and rising demand for diversified production hubs. In that environment, the country's automotive and mobility ecosystem has become a test case for whether policy support, private investment and industrial upgrading can combine to create globally competitive manufacturing depth rather than isolated pockets of output.
Supply Chains Take Centre Stage
CII's framing points to a structural change in how Indian industry is thinking about competitiveness. Earlier phases of industrial expansion often emphasised capacity creation, plant announcements and output growth. The newer emphasis is on the ecosystem around production: local sourcing of parts, supplier development, technology transfer, quality systems and logistics efficiency. For automotive and EV makers, these are not secondary issues. They determine whether India can move from being a large market to becoming a strategic manufacturing hub.
Domestic supply-chain development is particularly important in electric mobility, where batteries, power electronics, semiconductors, motors and software-linked systems are central to product performance. India has made progress in vehicle assembly and in parts of the component ecosystem, but deeper localisation remains a work in progress. CII's comments indicate that industry leaders see this as the next frontier if India is to reduce import dependence and capture more of the value chain.
The organisation's emphasis on global integration also reflects a pragmatic shift. Manufacturing competitiveness today is not measured only by domestic output, but by a country's ability to plug into international production networks, meet stringent quality benchmarks and adapt to rapidly changing technology standards. For India, that means moving beyond a protected domestic model and building capabilities that can serve both local demand and export markets.
Global Competition Intensifies
The automotive sector illustrates the stakes clearly. Traditional internal combustion vehicle manufacturing is already under pressure from electrification, software-defined vehicles and new mobility models. At the same time, global automakers and suppliers are reassessing where they source components and where they place future investment. India's opportunity lies in leveraging its scale, engineering talent and policy momentum to attract more of that investment, but the competition is intense.
CII's remarks suggest that the next phase of Make in India will be judged by outcomes that are harder to achieve and easier to measure: higher domestic value addition, stronger supplier networks, more advanced manufacturing processes and greater export competitiveness. That is a more ambitious benchmark than simply announcing new projects. It requires sustained coordination between industry, government and research institutions, as well as continued attention to infrastructure, skilling and regulatory predictability.
For the EV and mobility sector, the implications are especially clear. India's transition to cleaner transport will depend on whether the country can manufacture not just vehicles, but the critical technologies that power them. If domestic industry can deepen its capabilities, the country could strengthen its position in both the domestic market and global supply chains. If not, it risks remaining dependent on imported high-value inputs even as final assembly grows.
CII's message, in effect, is that Make in India has matured. The question now is whether India can turn industrial ambition into durable manufacturing strength that is globally competitive, technologically sophisticated and embedded in resilient domestic supply chains.