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E-mobility to be preferred mode of road transport by next decade: Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog
Sep 05, 2018
NEW DELHI, 5 September 2018: The stage is set to address the dire need for creating sustainable mobility solutions with e-mobility emerging as the preferred mode of mobility for the future. India's vehicular transportation scenario will undergo a sea change by the next decade as the country will emerge as the biggest passenger car market by 2030, where every second car sold will be in India.
This was stated here today by Mr. Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog, while speaking on 'Promoting Sustainable Mobility Solutions', ahead of the two-day Global Mobility Summit beginning on Friday. The event was co-hosted by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and NITI Aayog.
Mr. Kant said that at present 76% of all vehicles sold were 2-wheelers which consumed 64% of fuel and accounted for 30% of pollution, while 3-wheelers caused 5% of pollution. In addition, 70% of goods transportation was on lorries which too were a major contributor to vehicular pollution.
He said that the challenge for the country was to battery-charge all modes of road transport vehicles, and therefore, it was imperative to substitute fossil fuels with cleaner alternative fuels for both inter-city and intra-city movement of vehicles.
Businesses, he said, need to be aware of and seize the opportunities that are set to emerge from the e-mobility and sharing of vehicles space and rise to the challenge of R&D for developing technologies for harnessing renewables and efficient battery storage.
CEOs of leading technology and vehicle manufacturers shared their perspectives on e-mobility challenges and opportunities. E-mobility, they said, required the creation of a robust charging infrastructure, tailored to customer needs with a focus on environmental and safety requirements. Responsibility dictated the need for government and local bodies and the creators of charging infrastructure to come on board and conform to global benchmarks.
The CEOs who were video-interviewed were Mr Manish Sharma, President and CEO, Panasonic India Private India; Mr Vinod K Dasari, Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director, Ashok Leyland Ltd; Mr Shekhar Viswanathan, Vice Chairman & Whole Time Director, Toyota Kirloskar Motor (P) Limited and Mr Sanjeev Sharma, Chairman and Managing Director, ABB Ltd.
At a panel discussion later, CEOs spoke about the opportunities offered by the e-mobility market and emphasised the need for ensuring accessibility and affordability and charging infrastructure. The panellists were Mr Naveen Munjal, Managing Director, Hero Electric; Mr Mahesh Babu, CEO, Mahindra Electric; Mr Nishant Arya, Executive Director, JBM Group; Mr Akilur Rahman, CTO- ABB India; Mr Prasanna Kumar Ganesh- Program Director, Asia- Pacific Region, Toyota Mobility Foundation; Mr Karthick A, Head, EV & eMobility Solutions, Ashok Leyland and Ms Ritu Ghosh, Head Corporate Affairs & CSR, Panasonic India Pvt. Ltd.