Union Minister of Commerce & Industry Piyush Goyal
| Photo Credit:
ANI
The government on Wednesday said that India would welcome any global automobile to test its products in the country, so that they get interested in investing here.
Speaking at the 7th Auto Conclave organised by Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) here, Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal said that India has reduced the customs duties on import of completely built units (CBUs) and while India is also looking at free trade agreements (FTAs) with ‘many parts of the developed world’, a lot of companies are also coming and investing in India for the large market that India is.
“I have a view that while we will certainly be protecting and supporting the domestic industry, domestic manufacturers, we would also acknowledge a fair competition because competition brings efficiency, helps you improve product liability and competition ensures that the customer gets a fair deal/options. And, therefore we working to see a proper balance between protection and possibilities of expanding business or expanding to newer models, newer original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) coming into the Indian ecosystem,” Goyal said.
Domestic growth needs global entry
He stated that the government will continue to support domestic manufacturing significantly. However, if the industry is to grow, more global companies will need to come to India.
“I have realised that if you want to grow our manufacturing, other parts of the world get a taste of the Indian market. It is important for their ability to try out their best products in the Indian market before they can get interest to come and invest in India. And, therefore our effort is to expand the market, to demonstrate resilience in our industry…if we open our market, we can compete with anybody in the world, by anybody I mean everybody. That is the new India we want to create,” he said.
Auto component makers seek global market access
For instance, he said that the auto components manufacturers have urged him to open the world markets for them.
“They only come to me with a demand that ‘give us acess, open newer markets for us. Do anything else with anybody in the world, open the market for us (FTAs) because accessing those markets would give us revenues from those markets and for that if we have to open the Indian market, go ahead and do it. We can compete with anybody in the world’. They have this self confidence,” Goyal said.
On Compensation Cess issue
Meanwhile, he also assured that he will discuss the Compensation Cess with the Finance Minister, which concerns the dealers, before the GST 2.0 kicks off on September 22.
According to FADA, the sector has a Compensation Cess of around ₹2,500 crore to them.
Published on September 10, 2025
