SIAM hosts 19th Lecture Series on

SIAM hosts 19^th Lecture Series on ‘Vision Sustainable Mobility: Implications of CoP26’

 

Emphasizing Decarbonisation, carbon credits, reducing carbon emissions and attaining net zero emission

 

The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), the apex automobile industry body, organized the 19th lecture under SIAM lecture series on ‘Vision Sustainable Mobility: Implications of CoP26’ viz. imperatives of decarbonisation, carbon credits, reducing carbon emissions, attaining net-zero emission status etc. The lecture highlighted the policy, regulatory and legislative framework for decarbonisation and sustainable mobility which were recently talked about at the CoP26 summit. SIAM organised this lecture to give the industry perspective towards the climate change and to showcase the pathways India can achieve the Net Zero emissions status.

 

 

Segmented into two sessions, the lecture witnessed senior Government officials, industry stalwarts and experts discussing the vision for sustainable mobility which can help in attaining new net zero CO2 emissions status in the future.

 

Mr Prashant K Banerjee, Executive Director, SIAM, stated that, “With the ongoing discussions around CoP26 deliberations, the eminent speakers and experts from Industry, Government and OEM’s gathered around to throw light on the industry’s perspective towards CoP26 and showcased the way India is poised to achieve net zero emission status. Decarbonisation, low carbon strategies and carbon neutrality are some of the profound topics of discussion and therefore, form an integral part of India’s strategy towards achieving sustainability.”

 

The Guest of Honor Mr Rajnath Ram, Advisor (Power and Energy), NITI Aayog, Government of India, stated, “Low emission energy systems are undoubtedly a priority for the country and we are very much committed towards a sustainable future. I truly feel that our experiences can inspire other aspiring countries when it comes to sustainable energy development. Since our transport sector accounts for 20-22% of carbon emissions, decarbonisation of the transport sector is vital. I believe that Zero emission mobility is the future. The growth of EVs will have cascading impact on the economy and biofuels and green hydrogen will play a huge role in this transition.”

 

Mr Rajendra Petkar, Co-Chairman, SIAM Sustainable Mobility Group and President and CTO, Tata Motors Ltd, said, “The Indian Automobile sector has adopted an environmentally sustainable strategy that meet its energy efficiency goals, be it adopting technologically advanced fuel efficient products or for that matter, non-polluting vehicles. We have been aggressively looking towards lowering carbon footprint and achieving carbon neutrality. Many OEMs have set targets keeping in mind India’s goal of attaining carbon neutrality by 2070. In the Paris agreement and CoP26 deliberations, there was an increased thrust for adapting and implementing environmentally benefitting imperatives through reduced usage of fossil fuels.”

 

On this occasion, Dr Srinivas Shroff Nagesha Rao, Former CEO, REC Foundation and Advisor to UNDP, made a presentation on the theme, “The Road to Net Zero Carbon Emissions, Sustainable Mobility in the backdrop of CoP26”.

 

In his special address, Mr R R Rashmi, IAS, Sr. Fellow, TERI, discussed various aspects of energy transition pathways towards Net Zero Emissions & Sustainable Mobility: Challenges and Opportunities’ while giving an insight into the future of sustainable mobility in India.

 

Giving an overview on Glasgow declaration/agreement at CoP26, Prof Abhishek Malhotra, School of Public Policy, IIT, Delhi and Prof B K Panigrahi, Center for Automotive Research and Tribology, IIT, Delhi, focussed on the implications for the automotive sector with outlining a national perspective. Dr Inderjeet Singh, Director & Lead, ESG and Carbon Markets, Deloitte India, explained the environment, social and governance (ESG) and carbon credit market showcasing pathways to reach net-zero emissions. Mr Vinay Deodhar, Senior Clean Energy & Climate Change Consultant, ADB, gave an overview of India’s Green initiatives- Renewable Energy, EVs, Resource Efficiency, Low Carbon Fuels, clean tech. solutions etc.

 

Mr Amit Bhatt, Director, WRI, threw light on the international perspective on Decarbonization of passenger transport. Showcasing the national scenario Ms Kiran Sarkar, Deputy General Manager – Sustainability Mahindra Group Sustainability Office, laid emphasis on Mainstreaming Low Carbon Strategies in Vehicle Manufacturing, Value and Supply Chains. Mr Karan Mangotra, Senior Climate Change Specialist, The World Bank, gave an overview on India’s Five Points (Panchamrits) and Carbon Neutrality and financial mechanism under deliberated at COP 26 at Glasgow.

 

Mr Ruchir Shukla, Director, Electric Mobility Program, Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation, moderated the sessions.

 

With discussions and deliberation on India's  Carbon strategies to attain Carbon Neutrality, India’s green Initiatives, environmental and social governance (ESG) & carbon credit market therefore, SIAM's lecture series officially concluded on a high note, with a rich and insightful exchange of ideas, best practices and strategies.

As 32nd National Road Safety Month concludes

 As 32^nd National Road Safety Month concludes, SIAM’s virtual educational gallery remained the cynosure

 

The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) under the aegis of MoRTH and supported by the Delhi Traffic Police concluded today a month-long nationwide initiative of 32^nd National Road Safety Month organized on the theme ‘Sadak Suraksha Jeevan Raksha’.

Under the initiative, SIAM conducted various activities during the month and launched the virtual road safety educational gallery, which remained the pivotal point of attraction throughout the month.  Designed with the objective of educating stakeholders, and general public about road safety, the gallery sought to spread awareness and discipline on roads and drivers’ behavioral changes through encouraging best practices for road safety.

In the course of one month, SIAM along with its members and stakeholders had successfully reached to approximately one million citizens, propagating the message of ‘Sadak Suraksha Jeevan Raksha’. A series of road safety awareness and training activities were organized by SIAM for drivers of truck, bus and three-wheeler including school and college students, women riders and citizens at large. 

 

The road safety month also included a refresher program on safe driving and conducted eye checkup for three wheeler drivers organized at IDTR’s at Burari, Loni and Sarai Kale Khan. In a bid to further provide a holistic approach to the entire programme, health and eye check-up camps were organized for the drivers in more than 25 locations country wide. SIAM with ASRTU also organized road safety awareness virtual workshops for STU drivers across the nation and trained more than 11,000 drivers.

SIAM along with Delhi Traffic Police organized various awareness building campaigns like Pedestrian Walk and women two-wheeler rally where 100 women riders across different walks of life participated and spread the message of road safety. Additionally, awareness drives for general public were conducted at 119 accident prone road intersections within the capital city, with an objective to reduce accidents, fatalities and related injuries on roads.

 Various programs were organized by SIAM at Delhi, Rajasthan, Orissa, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry.

During the month-long road safety programs, SIAM organized two virtual seminars on Implementation of Vehicle Location Tracking Devices for Enhancement of Safety on Road and Emerging Technologies for Safer Mobility for educating and disseminating information on safety standards and holistic approach in bringing the safety through vehicular technology.

Sharing his views on the Road Safety Month, Rajesh Menon, Director General, SIAM said, “SIAM has always been committed towards fostering safer vehicular mobility not only through technological innovations and best-practices, but also creating and spreading awareness amongst the public  for making Indian roads safer. As a responsible organization, SIAM understands the criticality of road safety for all and has been instrumental in creating  mass awareness through numerous programmes and initiatives on safety.”

With an objective to drive and generate awareness about the fundamentals of road safety amongst students and children, various competitions like quizzes, slogan/poem writing, and painting competitions were organized across 1000 schools in the national capital. Several such activities were also organized in select colleges in Delhi to educate and  sensitize youth about responsible driving. The continuous support from all the partner OEMs viz. Ashok Leyland, Hero MotoCorp, Hyundai Motor India, Mahindra & Mahindra, M G Motors, Skoda Auto Volkswagen India, and TATA Motors through information sharing via videos, presentations etc. from January 18 – February 17, 2021 on road safety, has helped in connecting with the audience at large at the SIAM Virtual Road Safety Education Gallery.

SIAM hosts 15th Styling & Design Conclave and 13th Automotive Design

 SIAM hosts 15^th Styling & Design Conclave and 13^th Automotive Design Challenge

In its bid to strengthen the automotive sector in the new normal, Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) hosted its 15th Styling & Design Conclave on 19^th February 2021 virtually. With the theme “Influence of the New Normal on the Future of Automotive Design”, the conclave witnessed leading experts from automotive sector to deliberate upon the industry’s need to reimagine design capabilities as per the new normal.

The virtual conclave also had select presentations from the Automotive Design Challenge (ADC) 2020 from design students, depicting new ideas on the future of automotive design. The challenge has been an outstanding initiative by SIAM presenting a platform to the aspiring automobile designers to showcase their talent and capitalize on the opportunities for future.

 The theme session had leading luminaries from the sector highlighting holistic and collaborative efforts of the industry players in reinventing product design and operations whilst pioneering design innovations of the future. They shared their experiences, cited case studies on iconic products and effective design process and emphasized on the role of design in building and sustaining brands.

Beginning with the opening address, Mr Malo Le Masson, Chairman, SIAM Styling & Design Group & Head-Strategy, HeroMoto Corp, said “Due to the impact of the pandemic, the industry has to initiate a course correction, which we call the new normal. Designing has been all about transporting more people in less space and shorter time. But after Covid-19, even in mass transport we need to ensure that individuality is preserved.”

Mr John Antony Sahs, Head of Design, Nissan Latin America, Brazil said, “There are major disruptions globally due to Covid-19 but it also mean endless possibilities for the future. Working from home is the new normal and working together includes a certain degree of insulation from each other. The future of designing human existence is going to be Phygital, a combination of physical and digital, focussed towards new customer experience.”

Mr Teofilo Plaza Garcia, Head of Design, Hero MotoCorp, said, “The vaccine is like the light at the end of the tunnel as we observe a bounce back in global transportation. There will be a global shift to Two-Wheelers as a prominent personal mode of transport as well as big shift in recreational products, which has gained prominence in the new normal.”

Mr Markus Wechselberger, Client Director, KISKA, Austria said, “In urban mobility we realize user needs are constantly evolving. One of the most significant fear is of car ownership dropping by 80% in the USA. A situation will evolve where one may only pay for service on demand. Design and Styling is completely irrelevant and have bigger objectives, which is to solve a problem. It is your magic tool to create the future of mobility and will help introduce new product and services. In the long run, designing will be all about user experience and branded emotions.”

Mr Detlev Reicheneder, Sr Director – Industry Strategy Design & Manufacturing, Autodesk, Germany said, “The design studio of the future will be fundamentally different than that of the past. It will be all about creating and visualizing designs and ideas, managing processes by cutting non-productive time and furthering innovation, and about ensuring customer experiences by bringing people together from across the world through virtual reality capabilities to on the designs.”

Mr Thomas Dal, Dean – Strate School of Design said, “There can be two scenarios in the future. Either cars of tomorrow will look like a car with a difference of experience or they will be diminished.  OEMs will be shifting from being metal shaper to programmer and there will be a shift from ownership to user-ship”.

The conclave involved a brief presentation of automotive designs by ten shortlisted students of ADC’2020. The top-three winners of the ADC 2020 were Mr Harmeet Singh, from National Institute of Design as the first prize winner, followed by Mr Rugved Atul Patil, from World University of Design (WUD) as the first runner up and Mr Ganesh Borse, from National Institute of Design (NID) as the second runner up. The audience consisted of designer practitioners from Auto OEMs and Component Suppliers, Design Students, management executives from the automotive fraternity and concerned stakeholders. 

SIAM Organizes 6th Virtual Lecture on

 SIAM Organizes 6th Virtual Lecture on “Active & Passive Vehicular Safety Standards”

Participating industry experts emphasised the fact that, improved enforcements, a level playing field, technological advancements and greater awareness are imperative today, for road safety

The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) conducted its 6^th lecture, on “Active & Passive Vehicular Safety Standards”, on 27^th November, 2020. The lecture focused on Safety Standards for Buses and Commercial Vehicles in the national and global markets.

 The lecture also provided a comparative overview of the global markets with regards to Global Safety Standards for Buses and Commercial Vehicles alongside India’s achievements and the way forward in the aforesaid domain.

While the participants recognised the fact that although India as a country have come a long way as far as road safety is concerned, and buses and CVs today do have a large number of safety features, incidences of road fatalities still remain high. The lecture discussed and deliberated on what more safety best-practices can be implemented and the types of technological advancements and interventions that can be initiated, to mitigate this concern. All participants consensually agreed to the fact that India lacks the necessary infrastructure and there is a dearth of awareness amongst consumers as well, when it comes to road safety and safer mobility.  

Mr Prashant K Banerjee (Executive Director, SIAM), said, "It is very unfortunate to think of the fact that, every year, a multitude of people dies on our streets. While we at SIAM, takes pride that although today, trucks and buses adhere to safety standards and have advanced features that are at par with their global counterparts, however, there is a dire need for a well-structured enforcement implementation mechanism, initiatives that will work towards promoting a level playing field and a need for greater awareness amongst buyers and consumers. These are indispensable factors for ensuring safer mobility. SIAM has been continuously working towards providing an assertive and stimulating platform for the industry to come together and collectively address concerns that are impacting every citizen.”

The panel comprised of industry veterans, including the likes of Mr Ashim Sharma Partner (Group Head, Business Performance Improvement Consulting NRI Consulting & Solutions India), Mr Ranjit Ballal (GM & Head- VATS Ops), Mr. P Gowrishankar (GM & Head- Regulations and IB Tata Motors Ltd), Mr Neeraj Shaiv (General Manager VE Commercial Vehicles Limited), Mr D Balakrishnan (General Manager Ashok Leyland Ltd), Mr Ranjit Radhakrishnan (Vice President Volvo Group India Pvt Ltd) and Mr Prashant K Banerjee (Executive Director SIAM).

They shared their valuable insights on the following topics:

·         Indian Safety Standards for Buses/ Commercial Vehicles

·         Need for Harmonized Regulations across body builders

·         Safety Standards: Vehicles carrying hazardous materials 

·         Global Safety Standards for Buses and Commercial Vehicles

·         Industry landscape concerning BS-VI norms, from a lens of policies, regulations, principles, concepts, design, technology, pollution prevention, and climate change.