Automotive industry was able to achieve Mobility and Nobility in India

0
Suresh Prabhu
Suresh Prabhu

SIAM's environment day virtual interactive session was graced by Suresh Prabhu, India’s Sherpa to G20 & G7 and Hon’ble Member of the Parliament along with a distinguished panel of leaders from the automobile industry and conservation ecologists. The programme also witnessed the launch of SIAM’s Report on Environmental Sustainability by Indian Automobile Manufacturers, capturing details of various sustainability efforts made by the automotive industry to help save our environment. 

“Automotive industry in India was able to achieve Mobility and Nobility ”, appreciated Suresh Prabhu, Rajyasabha MP as well as designated India’s Sherpa to G20 & G7. He was addressing the virtual event organised by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) on “Ecosystem Restoration: Initiatives by Indian Auto Industry” to observe World Environment Day. The event was planned in line with this year’s global environment day theme of ecosystem restoration, with the focus on Reimagine, Recreate & Restore, United Nation’s 3R Environment Program.

Mr Prabhu told that there has been rapid progress made by the Indian automotive industry towards sustainability. “The integration of human beings into the ecology is very challenging, but can’t lose the balance between ecology and economy. We need to maintain ecology its natural form, the Forest Conservation Act was landmark legislation and because of that India still have 24% of forest cover today.”

With the opening remarks by Rajesh Menon, Director General, SIAM the event started and he mentioned various sustainability efforts of the automobile industry and its contribution to ecosystem restoration space. Followed by Rajesh, Ashwath Ram, Chairman, SIAM Sustainability Mobility Group & Managing Director, TATA Cummins and Cummins India said that World Environment Day encourages everyone towards positive change. He added that the automotive industry is adopting cleaner environmental standards with many SIAM partners working towards achieving carbon neutrality by 2030 or 2040.

 

“By 2040, modern bioenergy and renewable fuels are likely to meet 25% of India’s energy needs", said Vikram Kirloskar, Vice Chairman, Toyota Kirloskar Motor, in his special address. He also mentioned that due to the rapid increase in our overall energy needs, they may be a 50% rise in CO2 emissions, the largest for any country, even then the per capita carbon emission will continue to remain well below the global average. Emphasising the SIAM efforts towards knowledge sharing on sustainability, Prashant K Banerjee, Executive Director, SIAM mentioned the Lecture Series 2020 which was well received. He announced Eco-Sustainability and announced the avant-garde talk show series – 'Green Tea with SIAM'.

Rajendra Petkar, Co-Chair, Sustainable Mobility Group and President & CTO, TATA Motors, moderated the second session on Eco-sustainability, discussed the five zeros pillars of the holistic ecosystem, which are zero impact on the environment, zero fatality, zero waste, zero left-out, and zero stress. Dr J R Bhatt, Advisor, Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, GoI, highlighted that while India is not responsible for global warming and climate change, as per the Paris pledge, the nation is committed to reducing the emissions intensity of GDP by 33-35% from 2005 levels. Marius Ochel, Head of Cluster International Association Partnership Africa & India, German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA), gave an international perspective on the transport sector sustainability, e-mobility, and related challenges as well as discussing the automotive sustainability assessment and audit program launched by VDA for the industry and tier one, two and three vendors.

Raju B Ketkale, Dy. Managing Director (Manufacturing), Toyota Kirloskar Motor, emphasised on society existing in harmony with nature, and he spoke giving the perspective of the value chain. Ashish Gupta, Brand Head – Volkswagen Group Sales India, emphasised the environment being at the centre of all industry actions and emphasised the greening of aftersales services which included the adoption of various measures like reducing dependency on non-renewable energy sources, using waterless car washing systems, and various other measures. 

The environment day event focused on the Indian automotive industry’s commitment to adopt environment-friendly policies aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals 2030. The Eco Sustainability session threw light on the automotive industry’s contribution and adopting green automotive technologies and various measures for the sustainable management of auto products at every stage of the product life cycle.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here