With 'Innovation' as a brand pillar, MG Motor India and its consortium members have launched the fourth season of the Developer Program & Grant (MGDP). This program will provide an opportunity to learn, develop, and provide solutions for the automobile industry.

This event attracted an array of industry thought leaders. Key among the notable attendees were Ms. Astha Grover, Head of Startup India, Mr. Anant Nahata, Managing Director of Exicom; Dr. BK Panigrahi, Head of the Department of Electrical Engineering, Centre for Automotive Research and Tribology (CART), IIT Delhi; Ms. Mahua Acharya, MD, and CEO – Convergence Energy Services Limited (CESL); Mr. Rakesh Verma, Chairman of MapMyIndia; Dr. Rashi Gupta, Founder, and Managing Director of Vision Mechatronics Private Ltd; Mr. Sandeep Bangia, Chief Operating Officer of Electric Mobility, Jio-bp (Reliance BP Mobility Limited) and Mr. Sanjay Aggarwal, President of Fortum India.

Electric vehicles are taking centre stage and, therefore, in line with the theme "Electric Mobility Innovate for India," this year's MG Developer Program will focus on expanding the innovation platform for startups, developers, and innovators. This will not only provide opportunities for solutions and innovative insights into areas such as charging infrastructure, fleet management, electric components, electric batteries, green energy solutions, EV battery life cycle management, connected car solutions, and BaaS, but it will also enable the development of new applications and experiences across the entire EV ecosystem.

Speaking on the latest season of MGDP, Mr. Rajeev Chaba, President, and Managing Director of MG Motor India, said, “MGDP Season 4 aims to facilitate a positive change in the industry by creating a space for EV innovators from across the country to collaborate and develop novel solutions. This is a platform that seeks to unite the best brains of the industry to come together and innovate ideas that have the potential to change the EV landscape. It is our hope that this forum will lead to many more similar initiatives in the industry so that an effective and substantive EV-oriented conversation can continue to take place. We believe that by this we shall be able to foster a conducive environment where talent, innovation, and technology can all flourish together.”

Talking about the launch, Mr. Deepak Bagla, Managing Director & CEO of Invest India, said, “Innovation and technology are essential to any industry's growth, which is also true in the case of the mobility industry. This program shall produce some of the finest and most talented innovators who would be poised to transform the automotive industry. Furthermore, it will stimulate the development of innovative concepts in the Indian automotive industry, leading to further progression and growth. We look forward to uncovering some innovative solutions through this initiative. "

MGDP is a unique initiative of the carmaker designed to encourage developers in the mobility segment to stay abreast of emerging technologies by offering high-level mentoring. It has emerged as one of the major mentoring programs in the industry which invites innovators and startups to join MG and its consortium partners to shape a better future for the auto industry with innovations that enable exciting experiences every time. The program offers specialized, high-level mentoring and networking opportunities to assist with the practical development of the solution, business plan and modelling, testing facilities, go-to-market strategy, etc. Winning ideas will also have access to pilot projects/purchase orders or a grant, the amount of which will be decided by the jury, on a case-to-case basis. Over the course of its previous three editions, the program received entries from over 830 auto-tech start-ups. Out of these, around 180 startups including Koinearth, Electreefi, Voxomos, Redbot Technologies, and Mihup were identified, encouraged, and mentored by MG and its consortium members to explore and create applications in connected car technology, futuristic technologies, and CaaP (Car-as-a-Platform). For MGDP Season 4.0, the carmaker has partnered with Invest India and Startup India as lead partners and Jiobp, Exicom, Fortum, CESL, Attero, MapmyIndia, and Bosch as the technology partners.