Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday inaugurated Maruti Suzuki’s first fully electric SUV, the ‘e-VITARA’, and launched its global export from the company’s Hansalpur facility in Gujarat. The milestone marks a significant step in India’s ambition to position itself as a hub for green mobility and advanced clean energy manufacturing.
The e-VITARA, first unveiled at the Bharat Mobility Global Expo 2025, will be exported to over 100 countries, including Japan and several European markets. With this launch, India has officially become Suzuki Motor Corporation’s global manufacturing base for electric vehicles.
Alongside the EV rollout, Modi also inaugurated the production of hybrid battery electrodes at the TDS Lithium-Ion Battery plant in Gujarat — a joint venture between Denso, Toshiba, and Suzuki. This development will localize more than 80 percent of the battery value chain in India, strengthening the domestic EV ecosystem and reducing the nation’s reliance on imports.
“Today is a special day for India’s journey towards self-reliance and sustainable mobility,” Modi said during the event.
Maruti Suzuki’s Hansalpur unit, part of its 2.6 million annual production capacity across four Indian plants, will manufacture the e-VITARA. In FY25, the automaker exported 3.32 lakh vehicles and sold 19.01 lakh units domestically.
In addition to the EV launch, the Prime Minister dedicated railway projects worth Rs 1,400 crore, including the Rs 530 crore doubling of the 65-km Mahesana–Palanpur railway line, further enhancing Gujarat’s transport infrastructure.
The twin initiatives — boosting green mobility and strengthening rail connectivity — align with the government’s broader vision of transforming India into a global hub for electric mobility, clean energy, and modern infrastructure.
