AutoPartsAsia | OCTOBER 2017 | 49vibrant cluster. In the next ten years,
there will be huge growth in passenger
vehicles, two wheelers and export
volumes will also go up.”Srinivasan
was of the view that the GST and
demonetisation will make for a
transparent economy.
Abhay Firodia, Chairman, Force Motors
Ltd, said that the Government was
closely monitoring the DNA of the
manufacturing industry, especially the
auto sector in India, to ensure that it is
at par with the global standards. “It is
good that Indian automobile industry is
taking up this challenge despite shocks
in the past year. We had disruptions
due to demonetisation last year. We
have the GST now. We had transition to
BS-IV emission norms in an unplanned
manner owing to which we suffered
losses. We need clear and firm policy
guidelines concerning fuel, new
technologies and clean transport. This
would ensure that the industry doesn’t
suffer jerks and losses,” he said.
Firodia pointed out that there is a
lot of confusion on many aspects
relating to GST. “We need to have a
comprehensive automobile policy
and we need a favourable policy
environment. Safety on roads is a
concern for all of us, as over 1.5 lakh
people died last year. We also urge
for the need of more cooperation
from the Ministry of Road Transport &
Highways for having a robust policy
and infrastructure.”
Kenichi Ayukawa, Managing Director
and CEO, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd,
called India a unique country where
the auto industry offered large-scale
employment. He however pointed
out that there are some concerns
like issues related to CO2 emissions,
growing traffic and accidents.He said
some of the bottlenecks concerning
vehicles can be mitigated while working
on appropriate designing of the vehicle.T Mookiah, Associate Director (R&D) at
Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC),
Department of Space, Government
of India said the geopolitical situation
has made India develop technology
through R&D, and it has developed
technologies and on-board computer
for real time guidance of the satellite
launch vehicle. “These technologies
can be used by the automotive sector
and take a lead in high-powered
batteries for taking India on E-mobility
path,” he said.Summing up the proceedings of the
convention, Vinod K Dasari, President
SIAM,CEO and MD of Ashok Leyland
said, “India’s automobile industry
is today standing on the threshold
of major transformations and
unprecedented challenges.”Dasari urged the government to
create a National Automotive Board
which considers the concerns of all
factions and then prepare a clear and
ambitious, long-term roadmap for
regulations that are in the best interestsof the country. “We do not need to
simply copy the regulations from
Europe,” he pointed out. Dasri also
called for providing greater impetus for
doing more design in India as “this is
the only way we will gain traction with
government’s ‘Make in India’ initiative.
To reduce pollution we have committed
to Euro 6 levels in 2020 already.
We request that you please bring in
legislation to reduce polluting vehicles
and ban vehicles which are more than
15 years old,” Dasari explained.He also announced that as a voluntary
measure, SIAM will initiate three
more Voluntary Codes of Practice:
a full compliance to the Bus Body
Code which is ready but yet to
be implemented by government,
banning use of certain materials in the
manufacturing processes for vehicles
and components that are now globally
known to have hazardous effects on
the health of people; and making all
Vehicle Recall data available on the
SIAM and the MoHI Websites for public
consumption.
“Any country with a strong defence
force also has a dynamic and
committed auto industry that provides
the backbone for the defence
equipment. India is no different. We
generate over 30 million jobs, spend
more than 10 percent of the country’s
R&D, and contribute to over half the
manufacturing GDP. We are slowly but
surely becoming an integral part of the
security of our nation,” Dasari said.