Indian car industry likely to reach 6.1-6.3 million units by FY31: Maruti Suzuki India Chairman

Maruti Suzuki chairman RC Bhargava addresses a press conference in New Delhi, on Dec 17, 2015. (IANS File Photo)

New Delhi, August 9 (IANS): The Indian car industry is projected to grow to 6.1 to 6.3 million units by FY2030-31 and the share of the small car market would grow significantly faster than its pace of growth in the last five years, RC Bhargava, Chairman, Maruti Suzuki India Limited, said on Sunday.

Bhargava said that GST reforms have given a new impetus not only to the automobile industry but to several sectors of the economy and “We are in the process of making as accurate an estimate as possible of the likely growth of the car market in the next five years”.

Maruti Suzuki India has released its ‘Annual Integrated Report 2025-26’, which highlights how the revival of the small car segment, the strengthening of the company’s SUV portfolio, its multi-powertrain strategy, focus on capacity expansion and robust export performance have created fresh momentum for growth.

The automaker registered its highest-ever annual sales of 24.22 lakh vehicles and record exports of 4.47 lakh vehicles in FY 2025-26.

Having achieved the 2 million sales mark for the third consecutive year, the company, supported by all the key growth drivers in place, is optimistic about reaching its next million-vehicle milestone earlier than anticipated, according to a statement.

Hisashi Takeuchi, Managing Director and CEO, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, said that “we accelerated our capacity expansion plans. During FY2026-27, we added 500,000 units of manufacturing capacity”.

“Customer expectations continue to evolve rapidly. The company has plans to introduce 7 SUVs in the next 5 to 6 years to further strengthen SUV portfolio,” Takeuchi informed.

As India progresses towards becoming a developed nation by 2047, the automobile industry has both a responsibility and an opportunity to contribute meaningfully to this journey.“Through manufacturing, exports, technology development, employment generation, skill creation and sustainable mobility, Maruti Suzuki remains committed to supporting India's aspirations. The next million sales of vehicles represent far more than a volume milestone,” he mentioned. Indian car industry likely to reach 6.1-6.3 million units by FY31: Maruti Suzuki India Chairman | MorungExpress | morungexpress.com

Read More........ → August 15, 2026

SK Group to invest $1.36 trillion in AI chips and data centres

The South Korean giant is betting heavily on both chip production and data centre growth

South Korean conglomerate SK Group has announced a massive 2,100 trillion won ($1.36 trillion) investment roadmap targeted at domestic semiconductor manufacturing and AI data centre deployments.

The strategic push focuses heavily on securing upstream supply chain dominance and scaling computing infrastructure to reposition South Korea on the global AI stage.

“We should not simply export AI products. We need to export intelligence itself while building a domestic market for AI-driven intelligence,” said SK Group’s chairman Chey Tae-won, as reported by Yonhap News Agency.. “To achieve that, we will rapidly build AI factories in the form of large-scale AI data centers.”

SK Hynix plots memory chip production expansion

The group’s semiconductor division, SK Hynix, is spearheading the hardware allocation by committing 1,100 trillion won ($706 billion) to scale production capacity for High-Bandwidth Memory (HBM) and next-generation DRAM and NAND flash components critical for AI workloads.

Key capital projects within the chip investment include:

• Cheongju: 100 trillion won ($65 billion) allocated for site expansion.
• Southwest Cluster: 400 trillion won ($261 billion) earmarked to construct an entirely new semiconductor production hub.
• Yongin Mega-Cluster: 600 trillion won ($392 billion USD) dedicated to fast-tracking the deployment of its primary semiconductor hub. The group has pulled forward the completion timeline for this project to 2033, moving it 12 years ahead of its original 2045 deadline.

The broader long-term vision outlines a sustained capital expenditure of approximately 100 trillion won ($65.3 billion) annually in South Korea over the next decade, according to Chairman Chey.

SK Telecom pivots to GPUaaS and regional infrastructure

In tandem, telecom unit SK Telecom will deploy 1,000 trillion won ($642 billion) to build out physical AI data centres. The operator intends to establish 15 GW of AI data centre capacity across South Korea by 2035, with an interim target of 5 GW operational by 2029.

The initial phase involves a 140 trillion won ($91.5 billion) investment targeting the southeastern Yeongnam region to create a localised AI hub. This rollout begins with a 100MW hyperscale AI data centre in Ulsan, scheduled to begin operations in Q4 2027. SKT plans to expand this site by an additional 900MW, alongside another 1GW deployment elsewhere in the region.

“The massive AI data centers could transform the region into a hub for the verification and expansion of manufacturing AI, when combined with the manufacturing capabilities in the region,” SK Telecom’s CEO Jung Jai-hun announced during a public briefing with South Korean president Lee Jae Myung last week.

SK Group’s multi-year investment plans arrive amid unprecedented infrastructure spend across the global technology landscape; US hyperscalers, including Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, and Oracle, are forecast to spend a combined $600 billion to $750 billion USD in 2026 alone. While SK Group’s investments pale in comparison to these true giants, it nonetheless places the organisation firmly as a regional competitor.

For a telco, on the other hand, the scale of these AI investments is broadly unrivalled. SK Telecom has long signalled its intent to shake off its role as a traditional telco and embracing a new persona as an ‘AI factory’. Backed by architectural alignment with NVIDIA, the operator aims to leverage this massive footprint to position itself as a major GPU-as-a-Service (GPUaaS) provider in the Asia-Pacific region.

SK Group has interntional AI ambitions too. Last month, SK Telecom said it would invest 738 billion won ($480 million) into the newly formed ‘AI Co.’, a US-based subsidiary of memory giant SK Hynix created in January by repurposing its US flash memory firm Solidigm. The business, which is intended to operate as a strategic investment and ecosystem vehicle, is backd $10 billion from SK Hynix and a further $250 million and $380 million from SK Inc. and SK Innovation, respectively. By unifying upstream chip manufacturing via SK Hynix with mega-scale data center infrastructure from SK Telecom, SK Group is establishing a strong foundation for global AI development. This multi-trillion-won capital strategy effectively shifts the conglomerate from a regional component supplier into a high-margin, full-stack intelligence powerhouse capable of reshaping the Asia-Pacific tech landscape. SK Group to invest $1.36 trillion in AI chips and data centres

Read More........ → August 10, 2026