Pune: Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday said that the automakers should manufacture in the state with an objective to serve global markets, not just India.“I want Maharashtra to be a hub in future mobility. Look at Maharashtra as a base not just for India but for the entire world. Use Chakan to serve Indian and increasingly the Asian and global markets,” Fadnavis said in Pune while speaking at the launch of electric GLC by Mercedes Benz India.Maharashtra accounts for 20% of India’s motor vehicle production because Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad have the country’s deepest ecosystem with thousands of ancillaries and manufacturing units, he said.The state govt policy is targeting 30% EV registrations by 2030 through support of the ecosystem such as fast-charging infrastructure on highways. It is creating a sustainable mobility corridor on Mumbai-Pune Expressway and Samruddhi Highway. “We want batteries, power electronics and software to be made here. We also want the world’s finest engineering talent to build their future here,” he said.“In 2015, I had the privilege of inaugurating the expansion of the Mercedes Benz plant in Chakan. At that time, we had basic ambition. We wanted Maharashtra to become most trusted destination for global manufacturing. A decade later, I return to the same plant but Maharashtra is manufacturing the future,” he said.Fadnavis said that the state’s ambition cannot stop here. “We want Maharashtra to become the centre of future mobility, including electric vehicles, battery technology, semiconductors, artificial intelligence (AI), autonomous and assisted driving,” he said.India’s aspirations have changed over the years, and the consumers have moved from buying the best products to building the best products, and it is heading towards designing and inventing the best products. Similarly, automobiles have moved from being a mode of transport to software on wheels. Maharashtra has to lead these transformations for India, he said.
