Toyota Kirloskar Motor, Toyota Motor's Indian subsidiary, announced on May 7 that it will invest 48 billion rupees ($623.72 million) in decarbonization efforts in India. With the Indian government working to spread the use of electric vehicles, the company will focus on making EV parts in the southern state of Karnataka, where it already has a production facility, it said, Trend reports citing Nikkei Asia.
The company signed a memorandum of understanding with the Karnataka state government regarding the new investment. A specific time frame for the investment and other details were not made public.
Gasoline vehicles account for the majority of the Indian market, but the government is trying to increase the percentage of EV sales to 30% by 2030 because of air pollution and other problems. Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced in 2021 that the government aims to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2070.
In March, Toyota Kirloskar Motor said that it had signed a memorandum of understanding with a government-affiliated agency for an evaluation of the Mirai fuel cell vehicle in the Indian environment. However, domestic giants like Tata Motors are leading in EV sales in India. In the same month, Japanese automaker Suzuki announced that it would invest about 104.4 billion rupees to produce EVs and batteries in the western state of Gujarat.