Govt unveils draft National Auto Policy to promote green mobility

The government today sought stakeholders' comments on a draft National Auto Policy, which seeks to promote clean and safe mobility and adopt a long-term roadmap to harmonise emission standards with global benchmarks by 2028.
The policy also envisages propelling Indias automotive industry amongst the top three nations in the world in engineering, manufacturing and export of automotive vehicles and components.
The objective is to provide a long-term, stable and consistent policy regime and to have a clear roadmap for the automotive industry, making India a globally competitive auto R&D and manufacturing hub and achieving the targeted objectives of green mobility,said the draft released by the Department of Heavy Industry.

One of the key components of the draft policy is to promote clean, safe, efficient and comfortable mobility for every person in the country, with a focus on environmental protection and affordability.
It also proposes creation of a nodal body with a two-tier structure having an Apex Body supported by the National Automotive Council (NAC).
The policy eyes adoption of a long-term roadmap for emission standards beyond Bharat Stage VI and harmonise the same with global standards by 2028. It also envisions the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) norms till 2025 and beyond, for improving the average fuel economy of vehicles, and fix incentives or penalties.

The draft policy envisions enabling the country's automotive sector to become one of the largest employment creation engines and for India to become a global hub for research & development.

It aims to drive the automotive sector in India to adopt safe, clean and sustainable technologies, while scaling up automobile exports to 35-40 per cent of the overall output and becoming one of the major automotive export hubs in the world.
Members of the Apex Body will be Ministers and Secretaries from the ministries of commerce and industry; environment, forest and climate Change; finance; labour and employment; petroleum and natural gas; and power, among others.

In addition to representation from the ministries, the apex body will include eminent stakeholders nominated from the industry and academia.
The policy's key objectives are to support the growth of the automotive industry in India and make it one of the major contributors to the countrys manufacturing sector GDP and the overall economy by 2026.
It also aims to improve the brand recognition, competitiveness and technological advancement of the Indian automotive industry across the world.
"While the industry prepares to meet the BS-VI timeline, it is important to provide visibility on emission standards even beyond BS-VI, to enable the industry to plan it technology and investment roadmap.

The policy therefore proposes to roll out a comprehensive long-term roadmap for the automotive industry," said the draft.
It also proposes to define emission standards that will be applicable after BS-VI with a target of harmonizing with the most stringent global standards by 2028, across all vehicle segments; introduction of new norms shall initiate in 2026 with a 2-year phase-in period.
The proposed policy aims to drive the R&D efforts in the automotive sector towards indigenous research, design and engineering in both automotive vehicles and components.
The key functions and powers of the Apex Body are to finalise and notify the short term and long-term industry roadmap. It will also approve the key interventions, projects and incentives required and prioritise the critical initiatives, besides highlighting potential issues due to conflicting regulations and policies by different ministries.

The Apex Body will also recommend to the government any new legislation or amendment to existing legislations.
The NAC on the other hand will be tasked with formulating the regulatory roadmap and conducting techno-commercial assessment of implications.
It will also identify funding requirements for key projects and co-ordinate across ministries to ensure alignment in policy and regulatory decisions.
The Council will also monitor industry performance and recommend key interventions and course corrections.
The objectives of the National Auto Policy will be met through policy interventions across five identified focus areas.
These include innovation, research and development, whereby automotive companies across the value-chain will be encouraged to intensify innovation and research by developing domestic capabilities.

Moreover, new entrants and existing original equipment manufacturers will be supported in their domestic and export growth ambitions, while ensuring a level playing field for all.
The component manufacturers will be encouraged to move up the value chain through higher value-added offerings in electronics, electrical and system supplies. The Department of Heavy Industries has sought stakeholders comments on the draft policy by 26 February.