India’s leading automobile manufacturers have written to the government seeking urgent intervention to address the semi-conductor shortage. CNBC-TV18 has reviewed a letter written by OEM’s to top government officials. The industry has requested the government to direct embassies to help in restoring supplies of semiconductors.

Vehicle makers have urged the government to rope in Indian embassies abroad to help the auto sector in meeting its production targets. They have highlighted that the sector has just started witnessing a demand revival and any further disruption will definitely hurt the industry, said a source. The auto sector representatives have requested help from Indian embassies in Germany, USA, Japan and Taiwan. Indian missions can approach suppliers to ensure adequate allocation of semi-conductors to the Indian automotive industry, said an industry source requesting anonymity.

Almost all of India’s passenger car makers and commercial vehicle manufacturers have been impacted due to the global shortage of semi-conductors which are used in making electronic control units, anti-lock braking systems, electronic brake systems and sensors. “As a result of the shortage of semiconductors, the production schedules of several vehicle manufacturers have been affected”, said an industry source. According to estimates, the shortage is likely to impact production schedules in the first quarter of FY22 as well.

Since the beginning of the year, car and truck manufacturers have been unable to meet the market demand due to disruptions in supplies of semi-conductors. This has increased waiting times for popular models by several months in some cases.

(Edited by : Jerome Anthony / Abhishek Jha)

First Published:Feb 22, 2021 6:55 PM IST