The New Delhi based TERI (The Energy and Resources
Institute) has submitted a report on the air quality in
Maharashtra. Yes, you guessed it! Mumbai is the most
polluted and has unacceptably high levels of Nitrogen
Oxide levels - nearly three times the legal limit. The main
culprit here is diesel. Ironically, the State Government
taxes this ‘poison’ at a full Rs 9 less than petrol!
12 carindia August^2019 http://www.carindia.in
A NOTE from the CEO
ThelasTfewmonThshavebeena challenging
timefortheentireindianautomobileindustry.notonly
haveproductionandsalessliddownwards,thepossibility
oflay-offsandlossofjobsloomslargeonthehorizon.of
course,a numberoffactorsareresponsible.Themost
commonlymentionedonesarethelackofcreditandthe
imminentintroductionofbsvi.morepotentreasonsare
theunforgivablyhighratesoftaxationandthegeneral
lackofoptimisminbusinesssentiment.
Toaddfueltothefire,therecentbudgetcompletely
ignoredtheindustryandinsteadtalkedofelectriccarsfor
whichthereiscurrentlynoinstalledcapacity.ThegsT for
electriccarshasbeenbroughtdowntofivepercentwhen
thereishardlyanyelectriccarproductiontospeakof.
hybridcarshavehadnorelief.
conceivably,thefirstmoveshouldhavebeentowards
self-charginghybridcars.by usinganelectricmotorat
lowerspeeds,thesehybridsensurethatpollutingfossil
fuelsdonotkickinexceptathighspeeds.fora country
thathasnochargingpointstospeakof,self-charging
hybridsarethefirstpriority.Plug-inhybridswouldfollow
oncea decentinfrastructureforchargingwassetup.most
plug-inhybridsallowself-chargingand,therefore,offer
thebestofbothworlds.next would come electric cars or,
who knows, even hydrogen cars.
The jury is still out on that one. There are still a few
issues with respect to electric cars, range and price being
two of them. There have also been reports of electric cars
catching fire. Themovementawayfromfossilfuelsisinevitable.
however,it isextremelyimportantthatthetransition
ishandledwell.Unduehastecanputatriskthehuge
investmentsmadebycompaniesinindiaandcan
causehugedisruptionintheautosector.let’snot
forgetthatinthespaceof 30 years,indiahasmoved
onfromambassadorsandPadministoa world-class
carindustry.cananygovernmentignoretheproblems
ofanindustrythatcontributes 49 percenttoour
manufacturinggdP?finally,hasanybodyreallydone
themaths?willwecleanupourcitiesandimproveour
balanceofpaymentsbyrushingintoelectric?
remember,nooneproduceselectricbatteriesin
indiaatthemoment.further,allcobalt,lithium,and
nickelareimported.finally,a greaterdemandfor
electricitywillmeanmoreuseofcoal,thebiggest
polluterofall.solar power, which has recently seen
huge improvement in per megawatt electricity
production rates, has a lot of catching up to do if it is
toreplacecoal.
on a differentnote,forusaspublishers,therudeshock
inthebudgetistheimpositionofcustomsdutyon
newsprintandlwcpaper.for an industry already facing
a challengingtime,thedutydefinitelyneedsa re-look.
CarIndiaisnow 14 yearsold.we thankallour
stakeholdersandlookforwardtotheirsupportinthe
future.ourfocusisrock-steadyandwewillremainthe
only“car” magazine to go to for credibility and coverage.Hoshang S.
Billimoria
ceo