Mr Abhay Damle, Joint Secretary (Transport), Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Government of India, highlighted the importance of building India's transportation and logistics infrastructure for future mobility. He stated that Indian cars produce less pollution compared to trucks and buses, which travel an average 200 km per day and while comprising 2.5% of vehicles, consume 65% of fuel and emit about 70% NOx and SOx. Therefore, the e-mobility industry should focus on converting high mileage vehicles into electrical.
Prof Ashok Jhunjhunwala, Principal Advisor, Minister of Power and New & Renewable Energy, Government of India said that globally electric vehicles are promoted with huge subsidies, which is not feasible for India. He said innovative techniques should offset high battery prices, concessional GST and road-tax for three years. Battery swapping& charging, module-based battery design, developing business opportunities for battery ownership, etc. can alleviate battery costs. In the first stage, 4 wheelers, city buses and 3-wheelers may see a launch in Oct-Nov2017. Electricity from renewables will be primary source for EVs.
Speaking on India's biofuels mandate, Mr Y B Ramakrishna, Chairman - Working Group on Biofuels, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas said that biofuels can mitigate climate change and secure India's energy by replacing upto 30 per cent generation from fossil fuels. The Government is implementing policies to promote sustainable conversion technologies to produce blended fuels like bio-ethanol, bio-diesel and biogas, and India is already leading in technology to produce second generation ethanol. He said that issues like underutilization of production capacity and feedstock supply and cost need to be resolved.
Emphasing an India-specific policy, Dr Suddhasatwa Basu, Professor, Chemical Engineering, IIT Delhi said that a clear policy roadmap is required to run over 10 billion electric cars over the next decade.
Mr P K Banerjee, Deputy Executive Director (Tech.), SIAM said that four main forces will drive the mobility sector: consumer need, move from connected to autonomous mobility, infrastructure, and management of old vehicles including recycling.
Ms Soma Banerjee, Principal - Energy & Infrastructure, CII, said that with growing urban population and increasing pollution, India must choose between public and private vehicles. Government policy should encourage citizens and Industry to move towards public vehicles, taking into account energy efficiency and global market conditions. Also, given India's diversity, it would need a combination of biofuels, renewables, electricity and cleaner fossil fuelsto serve its future mobility needs.
Ms Mansi Tripathy, Managing Director, Shell Lubricants India, said that India needs multivariant e-mobility solutions which are affordable and customised to the Indian market. Despite challenges to the last mile connectivity, such as charging points and urban infrastructure, industry including OEMs are fully committed to realising the national vision.
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