From Assembly to IP Ownership: Why India Must Build Core EV Technologies
Although EV adoption is accelerating, India remains heavily dependent on imported components and foreign intellectual property for the technologies powering these vehicles. To secure long-term competitiveness in the global EV market, India must advance beyond mere assembly and focus on developing and owning the core technologies that define the industry.
April 01, 2026. By News Bureau
With the advent of diverse EV applications and their increasing adoption across various use cases beyond traditional automotive segments, such as two-wheelers, three-wheelers, four-wheeler passenger vehicles, and both commercial on-road and off-road categories, there is an urgent need to establish this ecosystem on a robust and sustainable foundation. This foundation should encompass core technologies, supply chain management, manufacturing, and after-sales services, while also considering the end-of-life impact on society and the environment. India's transition to EVs is progressing through various stages and requires dedicated intervention from multiple stakeholders who are directly and indirectly responsible for shaping this industry. It is essential to nurture and support this sector to foster sustainable transportation solutions that can have a meaningful impact.
The proliferation of e-scooters, e-rickshaws, e-autos, e-cars, e-buses, and electric fleets for e-commerce platforms is now a common sight on city roads. Ride-hailing fleets are experimenting with electrification, and the government is aggressively promoting a cleaner mobility future. With ambitious policy targets and increasing consumer awareness, India is positioning itself as one of the fastest-growing EV markets globally.
The rapid adoption of EVs across various sectors, particularly in the commercial segment, is impressive. This growing market has attracted the attention of foreign countries, especially those with smaller markets or those approaching market saturation. In this context, India faces a significant opportunity to establish itself as a leader in this emerging industry, leveraging its potential to become a major player in the global EV landscape.
Furthermore, the vast user base presents significant opportunities, particularly in foreign markets where either the market is small or approaching a demand plateau. In this context, India faces a critical challenge to position itself as a formidable player in the emerging industry, creating substantial opportunities to establish leadership in technology and become a preferred global alternative to China for EV-specific technology, innovation, and manufacturing. Although EV adoption is accelerating, India remains heavily dependent on imported components and foreign intellectual property for the technologies powering these vehicles. To secure long-term competitiveness in the global EV market, India must advance beyond mere assembly and focus on developing and owning the core technologies that define the industry.
India’s EV Market is Expanding Rapidly
Rapid domestic adoption is an important milestone, but becoming a global EV technology leader requires deeper, structural advances in areas where India still lags behind.
Strengthening Indigenous R&D and Core Technology Development
While India assembles many electric vehicles domestically, a large portion of components, particularly lithium-ion cells, battery management systems, and semiconductor chips, are imported.
To lead globally, India must:
The proliferation of e-scooters, e-rickshaws, e-autos, e-cars, e-buses, and electric fleets for e-commerce platforms is now a common sight on city roads. Ride-hailing fleets are experimenting with electrification, and the government is aggressively promoting a cleaner mobility future. With ambitious policy targets and increasing consumer awareness, India is positioning itself as one of the fastest-growing EV markets globally.
The rapid adoption of EVs across various sectors, particularly in the commercial segment, is impressive. This growing market has attracted the attention of foreign countries, especially those with smaller markets or those approaching market saturation. In this context, India faces a significant opportunity to establish itself as a leader in this emerging industry, leveraging its potential to become a major player in the global EV landscape.
Furthermore, the vast user base presents significant opportunities, particularly in foreign markets where either the market is small or approaching a demand plateau. In this context, India faces a critical challenge to position itself as a formidable player in the emerging industry, creating substantial opportunities to establish leadership in technology and become a preferred global alternative to China for EV-specific technology, innovation, and manufacturing. Although EV adoption is accelerating, India remains heavily dependent on imported components and foreign intellectual property for the technologies powering these vehicles. To secure long-term competitiveness in the global EV market, India must advance beyond mere assembly and focus on developing and owning the core technologies that define the industry.
India’s EV Market is Expanding Rapidly
Rapid domestic adoption is an important milestone, but becoming a global EV technology leader requires deeper, structural advances in areas where India still lags behind.
Strengthening Indigenous R&D and Core Technology Development
While India assembles many electric vehicles domestically, a large portion of components, particularly lithium-ion cells, battery management systems, and semiconductor chips, are imported.
To lead globally, India must:
- Invest heavily in battery chemistry research, including solid‑state and sodium‑ion technologies.
- Support public‑private R&D ecosystems, connecting universities, research labs, and industry.
- Build design and manufacturing capabilities for motors, controllers, inverters, and power electronics.
Building a Robust Local Supply Chain
India’s EV supply chain today is still vulnerable to disruptions in imported materials and components. Leadership will require:
- Localising cell manufacturing under the Production‑Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme.
- Developing domestic capabilities in rare‑earth alternatives, recycling, and circular economy models.
- Encouraging Tier‑1 and Tier‑2 supplier networks to scale up quality and capacity.
Scaling World‑Class Charging Infrastructure
Adoption will stall without a reliable infrastructure. India needs:
- Ultra‑fast charging networks on highways.
- Standardised and interoperable charging protocols.
- Scalable battery-swapping ecosystems for two‑ and three‑wheelers.
Charging infrastructure must grow at a pace that matches, or exceeds, vehicle penetration.
Investing in Battery Recycling and Second-Life Ecosystems
As millions of EV batteries reach end-of-life in the coming decade, India needs:
Investing in Battery Recycling and Second-Life Ecosystems
As millions of EV batteries reach end-of-life in the coming decade, India needs:
- Advanced recycling facilities to recover lithium, nickel, cobalt, and graphite.
- Standards for second-life applications, such as stationary storage.
This will reduce import dependence and build a sustainable industry loop.
Developing Software and AI Capabilities
The future of EVs is software‑defined mobility, where:
Developing Software and AI Capabilities
The future of EVs is software‑defined mobility, where:
- Range optimization
- Predictive maintenance
- Energy management
- Fleet intelligence
…are all software-driven.
India’s strong IT sector positions it well, but it must integrate these strengths more tightly with automotive engineering.
Building Global EV Brands
To be a technological leader, India needs EV brands that are recognised globally – just as China has BYD or the U.S. has Tesla. India can move toward this by:
India’s strong IT sector positions it well, but it must integrate these strengths more tightly with automotive engineering.
Building Global EV Brands
To be a technological leader, India needs EV brands that are recognised globally – just as China has BYD or the U.S. has Tesla. India can move toward this by:
- Exporting EVs to emerging markets.
- Designing vehicles that balance low cost with advanced features.
- Building trust through long-term reliability and after-sales ecosystems.
Ensuring Policy Continuity and Stability
Investors and manufacturers need long-term clarity. Consistent policies around:
- Import duties
- Battery standards
- Charging protocols
- Safety regulations
…will reduce uncertainty and accelerate innovation.
The Missing Piece: Indigenous EV Technology
In the Indian ICE vehicle market, Tier-I companies involved in component manufacturing are seldom promoted or actively engaged in research and development. These companies often operate within a ‘Build to Print’ framework, aligning closely with OEM-driven designs and instructions. This approach has fostered a culture focused on manufacturing excellence, evolving primarily in response to domestic demand. However, this has also led to a reliance on OEM inputs, with limited emphasis on fostering a culture of research and innovation.
The emergence of electric vehicles (EVs) has prompted a shift towards developing proprietary designs and technologies. Government initiatives and incentives aimed at promoting indigenous technology have become crucial. It is essential to support these efforts by encouraging widespread participation and adoption at all levels, particularly from OEMs. This support should include business incentives to foster innovation. Such momentum in research and innovation is poised to drive transformative breakthroughs, positioning India as an innovation hub. This shift will extend beyond the automotive sector to include off-road, railways, and industrial mobility-based equipment.
A significant challenge remains in battery technology. The lithium-ion battery, which constitutes 30–40 percent of an electric vehicle's total cost, is predominantly imported from countries like China, South Korea, and Japan. Addressing this dependency is critical for advancing India's position in the EV market.
Domestic companies have made progress in assembling battery packs, but the underlying cell chemistry, the real technological heart of the battery, largely remains outside India’s control.
A similar narrative unfolds across other critical electric vehicle (EV) technologies. Power electronics, motor controllers, advanced battery management systems, and semiconductor components are predominantly sourced from international suppliers. Even when vehicles are assembled domestically, the intellectual property underlying these components often originates from abroad. Consequently, a significant portion of India's EV manufacturing ecosystem mirrors a ‘screwdriver assembly’ model, where vehicles are assembled locally, but the essential technologies are imported. While this approach may facilitate initial market expansion, it is not a viable strategy for achieving long-term industrial leadership.
The Hidden Costs of Technological Dependence
The absence of indigenous EV technology creates several economic and strategic risks for India.
First, dependence on imported components makes the EV industry vulnerable to global supply chain disruptions. The pandemic-era semiconductor shortage demonstrated how fragile global supply chains can be. Similar disruptions in battery materials or electronics could slow India’s EV expansion.
Second, relying on foreign technology increases costs. Imported components are subject to logistics costs, currency fluctuations, and geopolitical risks. These factors can ultimately make EVs more expensive for Indian consumers and reduce the competitiveness of domestic manufacturers in global markets.
Third, and perhaps most importantly, India risks capturing only a small share of the economic value generated by the EV revolution.
In modern automotive manufacturing, the highest value does not lie in vehicle assembly but in technology ownership. Battery chemistry, power electronics, control software, and semiconductor design represent the most profitable segments of the EV value chain. Companies and countries that control these technologies capture the largest share of industry profits.
If India continues to rely on imported technologies, the majority of value creation in the EV sector will accrue to foreign firms that hold the patents and intellectual property. This would mirror the experience of other manufacturing industries where India became a major assembly hub but did not develop the technological capabilities needed to dominate the value chain.
Finally, there is also a strategic dimension. Electric vehicles are not just transportation devices; they are part of a broader ecosystem involving energy storage, smart grids, and digital mobility platforms. Countries that control EV technologies will influence the future of mobility, energy security, and industrial competitiveness.
Without strong domestic technological capabilities, India risks long-term dependence in a sector that will define the next era of transportation.
Moving From Assembly to Innovation
The solution lies in shifting the focus of India’s EV strategy from assembly to innovation.
Policy initiatives such as the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for advanced battery manufacturing represent an important step in this direction. However, incentives for manufacturing must be complemented by sustained investments in research and development, technology partnerships, and intellectual property creation.
India must encourage deeper collaboration between industry, universities, and research institutions to develop indigenous technologies in batteries, power electronics, and EV software platforms. Startups working on next-generation battery chemistries, energy storage systems, and electric drivetrains should receive strong policy and financial support.
Equally important is the creation of a domestic ecosystem for critical materials, semiconductor design, and advanced manufacturing processes.
India already possesses the two most important ingredients for technological leadership: a large engineering talent pool and a massive domestic market. What is needed now is a strategic push to convert these advantages into technological capability.
The EV transition presents India with a once-in-a-generation industrial opportunity. But the true winners of this transition will not be the countries that simply assemble the most electric vehicles—they will be the ones that own the technologies powering them.
For India, the challenge is clear: move from assembly lines to innovation labs, and from market size to intellectual property ownership. Only then can the country truly lead the electric mobility revolution.
- Vijay Kumar, Founder and CEO, Tsuyo Manufacturing
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