Economic Survey 2026: Global markets are giving India-made cars a nod of acceptance as exports rise

India’s automobile sector is tightening its grip on global markets, with surging exports underscoring growing international acceptance of vehicles made in the country, the Economic Survey 2025–26 said on Thursday.

According to the Survey, the industry shipped more than 53 lakh vehicles across passenger, commercial, two-wheeler and three-wheeler categories in FY25, and has already posted double-digit export growth in the first half of 2025–26. The momentum reflects a broad-based recovery in demand following the pandemic, which has lifted both production and domestic sales.

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Over a longer horizon, the scale of expansion is even starker.

Vehicle production has risen by nearly 33 per cent over the past decade, from FY15 to FY25, the Survey noted. Backed by a deep manufacturing base and a sprawling auto component ecosystem, the sector now supports over 30 million direct and indirect jobs and contributes close to 15 per cent of India’s total GST collections.

The Survey described the automobile industry as a core engine of economic growth, pointing out that India is the world’s largest market for two-wheelers and three-wheelers, and the third-largest globally for passenger and commercial vehicles combined.

Policy support has played a key role in sustaining this trajectory, particularly in electric mobility. Schemes such as the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) for automobiles and auto components, the PLI for Advanced Chemistry Cell battery storage, PM E-DRIVE, and the PM e-Bus Sewa Payment Security Mechanism have collectively accelerated electric vehicle registrations in recent years.



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The Scheme to Promote Manufacturing of Electric Passenger Cars in India (SMEC), notified in March 2024, has further strengthened the sector’s growth outlook, the Survey said.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman tabled the Economic Survey 2025–26 in the Lok Sabha on Thursday, outlining the government’s assessment of the economy’s performance ahead of the Union Budget.