PMO Advisor Urges Automakers to Target Critical Silicon and Battery Chokepoints
Addressing the SIAM Annual Convention in New Delhi, Prime Minister's Office Advisor Tarun Kapoor urged automotive executives to prioritize local sourcing around vulnerable single-origin components like microchips and…
- Semiconductor 2.0
What Happened
Delivering an address to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers, Prime Minister's Office Advisor Tarun Kapoor urged vehicle manufacturers and component suppliers to focus national localization investments on high-risk supply chokepoints rather than attempting exhaustive domestic content across every assembly part.
“I don't say that India can become self-sufficient in every part or every material which goes into manufacturing,”
Kapoor cited recent vulnerabilities around rare-earth permanent magnets and integrated circuits to demonstrate how geographically concentrated suppliers can stall automotive assembly lines nationwide. He encouraged automakers to flag critical mineral and electronic vulnerabilities to policymaking bodies ahead of impending supply disruptions.
The adviser highlighted India's expanding Semiconductor 2.0 policy alongside phased domestic value-addition incentives for electric vehicle battery cells. Observing that mature manufacturing economies maintain deep import linkages, he argued that targeted resilience must take precedence over broad-brush isolationism.
“Even China is not self-sufficient in everything. China also imports quite a bit,”
Why this matters
The guidance clarifies federal industrial strategy for the automotive supply chain: instead of mandating blanket indigenization across all vehicle components, the Prime Minister's Office is focusing state capital on high-risk bottlenecks. Prioritizing semiconductor foundries, permanent magnet manufacturing, and battery cell chemistry insulates assembly lines from geopolitical export controls without adding friction to commodity component imports.
Terms in This Story
- PMO
- Prime Minister's Office, the administrative secretariat facilitating national executive policy and strategic economic planning in India.
- Chokepoint Component
- A critical, specialized part—such as a semiconductor or processed rare-earth magnet—whose concentrated supply chain can halt overall vehicle production if disrupted.
A brief summary; details can be imperfect — always verify against the original source.