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New Delhi: Major auto industry events that happen in January could be merged into a single comprehensive mobility event of India from next year when the biennial Auto Expo is due.
As the first edition of the Bharat Mobility Show concluded on Saturday, the Minister of Commerce & Industry, Piyush Goyal, stated that this year’s event was a ‘success’ and will now become ‘an annual affair’.
“Every year, the Bharat Mobility Global Expo is going to be an institution of ideas and innovations that would further help demonstrate India’s growth story to the people of our nation,” Goyal said while speaking to the media post the conclusion of the show that took place from February 1-3 at Bharat Mandapam, Pragati Maidan halls.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also visited the Expo on Day 2, leading to some industry executives getting a chance to showcase their ideas directly.
The event was organised by the Ministry of Commerce in collaboration with other ministries and industry bodies including Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), Automotive Component Manufacturers’ Association (ACMA), Automotive Tyre Manufacturers’ Association (ATMA), Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Nasscom.
Other industry bodies like ISA, IESA, ICEMA, MRAI, ITPO, Invest India, IBEF, contributed to the expo.
The 5th edition of ACMA Automechanika New Delhi also took place simultaneously, with over 500 exhibitors from India and internationally.
However, until last year, the industry’s flagship motor show Auto Expo was organised by SIAM at the India Expo Mart in Greater Noida and the Auto Components Show by ACMA at Pragati Maidan. The last edition of the biennial events took place in January 2023.
Going forward, the Auto Expo could be “merged” into Bharat Mobility to make one big show “emphasizing the expo’s inclusive approach towards the entire automotive ecosystem”, the Minister said.
A high point of the 3-day show was the attendance of all the stakeholders including automakers, component suppliers, tyre makers, charging infrastructure providers, vehicle scrappage companies, present under one roof, initiating an opportunity of collaboration and business leads.
All the OEMs across the segments were also present, unlike the Auto Expo which involves voluntary participation and where a number of companies gave a miss in the last edition that was postponed by a year and happened after 3 years, owing to Covid concerns.
However, the excitement for vehicle displays was comparatively low as barring a few, most OEMs showcased their existing models and concepts which have already been launched in the market during the last year or were unveiled at the Auto Expo 2023. A few others introduced vehicles with new fuel technologies. Similar was the case with component suppliers.
“This conference was put together in only two months, start to finish,” the Minister stated, adding that the Expo saw a turnout of around 800 exhibitors and 1.50 lakh registered visitors including business visitors.
Auto executives that ETAuto talked to shared that they would need a longer preparation time if the annual show is to come back next year.
