Why more Indian manufacturers should emulate TVS Motor’s global ambitions

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₹90,000 crore last year. Manufacturing behemoths like Samsung and Apple have not only transferred significant production lines to India but are also producing multiple models in the country, destined for global markets. But, while global manufacturers have shown a willingness to make in India, Indian manufacturers have not been as quick to explore global markets.

Which is why more Indian manufactures need to emulate two-wheeler manufacturer TVS Motor’s goal of becoming a truly global player active in all markets, not just at home. TVS Motor was India’s third largest seller of motorcycles and scooters in India as of Q1, FY24. But rather than aiming to catch up with market leaders Hero Motocorpo and Honda Motorcycles and Scooters, TVS is setting a much more ambitious goal for itself – becoming a global mobility player of importance, with half its revenues accruing overseas.

“By 2025, we see 30% of the scooter industry becoming electric and more than half of our revenues coming from outside India," TVS Motor MD Sudarshan Venu said in a recent interview to The Economic Times. That kind of change in the revenue mix is not likely to happen simply by exporting more products manufactured primarily for the price-conscious domestic market. That can happen only if, like TVS Motor, Indian manufacturers look to not only create capacity overseas through partnerships, greenfield investments and brownfield acquisitions, but seriously start to engineer products specifically for global markets.