New Delhi, Aug 17 (IANS) India and Turkey should focus on dividing production tasks across shared value chains rather than competing to own entire factories, a new report has said, pointing to the lost opportunity when both countries pursue the same industry and compete for multinational orders.
The report from India Narrative argued that sectors such as automotive electronics, railway equipment, renewable‑energy components, machinery parts and industrial software offer realistic opportunities for collaboration if both countries divide production across value chains.
“Partnerships should share value chains, not compete for investment announcements,” the report said, warning that incentives programmes in both countries risk becoming an expensive contest to “persuade the same multinational groups to place an entire plant on one side rather than the other.”
India on March 30 approved 29 proposals under its Electronics Components Manufacturing Scheme covering items such as flexible printed circuit boards, connectors, heat sinks, lithium‑ion cells and rare‑earth magnets.
Turkey’s HIT‑30 programme targets many of the same industries with support packages including $5 billion for electric vehicles, $4.5 billion for batteries and $5 billion for semiconductors, the report said, flagging an unnecessary competition.
Turkey already hosts around 1,100 automotive component suppliers and exported roughly three‑quarters of its vehicle output in 2025, while India offers a much larger domestic market, expanding electronics capacity and incentive programmes to deepen localisation.
The publication noted that assets in both countries are complementary only if cooperation goes beyond one giant joint venture in one country.
As a practical first step, the report recommended starting with automotive electronics, with Indian firms producing flexible circuits or sensor assemblies while Turkish partners supply tooling, housings or thermal‑management parts.
The division should come from considerations related to cost, capability and buyer audits rather than a diplomatic assumption that India has software-related capabilities and Turkey has hardware expertise.
“Renewable energy makes the risk of duplication clearer. India reported 172 GW of solar-module manufacturing capacity by March 2026. Turkey is supporting solar cells, wind-turbine components and batteries through HIT-30,” the report said.
The publication warned that building two protected supply chains for every technology may produce excess capacity in the same low-margin stages.
—IANS
aar/pk