India’s automotive sector is at a turning point. At the recent ET Auto Tech Summit, Kishor Patil, Co-founder, CEO & MD of KPIT Technologies and Chairman of the ER&D Council at NASSCOM, delivered a compelling keynote on how India can rise to global leadership in auto-tech innovation.

Where India Stands Today

India’s auto industry is valued at $240 billion, yet it lags behind global leaders in key innovation metrics. Compared to countries like China, the US, and Germany, India has:

  • A motorization rate of just 33 vehicles per 1,000 people
  • R&D investment at only 0.65% of GDP
  • A Global Innovation Index rank of #39

Despite these gaps, India has a thriving startup ecosystem and a growing manufacturing base—two powerful levers for transformation

India’s Automotive Metrics Compared to Global Leaders – China, US, Japan, Germany

  1. The 4 I’s of Economic Growth

Drawing from global case studies, Kishor Patil outlined four pillars that have historically powered economic growth:

  • Innovation: Driving productivity and competitiveness
  • Institution: Building trust, governance, and policy stability
  • Investment:In both physical and human capital
  • Initial Conditions: Creating the right environment for scale/li>

Countries like China, Japan, and Germany have used these levers to achieve sustained GDP growth. India now has the opportunity to follow suit

“India’s Path to Growth”

2. Connecting the Ecosystem

One of the keynote’s central themes was horizontalization—the idea that no single player can drive innovation alone. India already has all the necessary stakeholders:

  • OEMs, Tier 1s, and GCCs
  • Startups and educational institutes
  • ESPs, cloud providers, and software players
  • Regulators and national chambers

The challenge is integration. By fostering cross-disciplinary collaboration, India can unlock end-to-end innovation at scale

3. What Stakeholders Can Do

Enablers (Tech, Cloud, ESPs): Drive AI transformation and deeptech innovation

Capacity Builders (OEMs, Tier 1s): Scale delivery and own large parts of the value chain

Ecosystem Players (Startups, Academia): Catalyze growth and build global ER&D capabilities

“Roles of Auto-Tech Stakeholders in India’s Growth”

4. The Road Ahead

India has the potential to become the world’s #2 auto-tech hub. This will be driven by collaboration efforts initiated at every company level, gradually aligning into a coordinated, ecosystem-wide movement. Kishor Patil’s keynote is a call to action for industry leaders, policymakers, and innovators to work together and shape the future of mobility.

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