SIAM Seeks long-term Policies to Face Future Challenges

The Indian automobile industry took its first step to carry out fuel emission standards in 2000 when the Bharat Stage 1 (BS 1) norms were introduced. Since then a lot has happened in the fuel emission space. India moved to BS II in 2002 and BS III in 2005. In 2010 BS IV was introduced but could not be implemented across the country due to unavailability of fuel.

- Bhargav TS

Moving from BS I to BS IV in 11 years is a laudable achievement for the Indian automotive industry. Europe took 13 years to do so. In order to improve environmental performance of the new vehicles, BS IV emission norms for passenger cars have been implemented. It would be extended across the country by 2017.

In fact the industry is ready to meet the target imposed by the Government of India (GoI) to implement BS VI emission norms by 2020 with an additional investment of about Rs 1 lakh crore in the coming years. It was in this background and setting a road map for the coming years, the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) held its 56th Annual Convention in New Delhi on August 31 with the theme: ‘Building the nation, responsibly’.

Mobility in 2025

In the inaugural session the speakers discussed about the mobility in India in 2025 which largely is to be dominated by hybrid and electrical vehicles. Anant Geete, Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, told the members about the Government steps such as subsidy for electric vehicles production and buying, GST Bill and moving to world-class green technology to reduce pollution.

The Union Minister said that the automotive industry played a key role in the ‘Make in India’ programme. “The environment is one of the biggest concerns for the sector. We have therefore allocated Rs 14,000 crore for the FAME scheme for promoting hybrid and electric mobility, which will save Rs 60,000 crore fuel, thereby benefitting the environment,” he said.