SIAM hosts Global Electrification Mobility Summit | Auto Expo 2023
The Society of Indian Mobile Manufacturers (SIAM), the apex automotive industry body and organizer of the Auto Expo Motor Show 2023, organized the 2nd Global Electrification Mobility Summit (GEMS), themed "Vidyutikaran – Mapping India's Pathway to Electrification".
Witnessing participation from many foreign and Indian delegates, the summit hosted six countries as 'Guest Countries' – USA, Korea, Sweden, Israel, United Kingdom and European Union. The event saw various stakeholders participating, including national and international banks and NBFCs, international guest speakers, secretaries and transport commissioners of various states, and EV ecosystem stakeholders including battery manufacturers.
Speaking at the summit, Sudhendu J. Sinha, Adviser (Infrastructure Connectivity & Electric Mobility) at NITI Aayog, Govt of India, said "We are rewriting the entire history of the automobile industry. We are looking at the electrification of new things. We are not just looking at being just a EV using country, but also becoming a global manufacturing hub for EVs. Niti Ayog is in full support of the industry's journey towards electrification."
Hanif Qureshi, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Heavy Industries, spoke on electric mobility's rapid emergence in 2022, thanks to the various schemes announced by the governments to push EV adoption. "Additionally, as batteries are an important component of EVs, we do have a PLI scheme to encourage manufacturing of advanced chemistry cells in India".
The summit saw five panel discussion sessions, along with the unveiling of the vision behind the theme 'Vidyutikaran' strategy for electrification. SIAM, with this strategy, is fully committed to developing electric mobility in India, and promises to keep working with all the relevant stakeholders to fulfil India's sustainability ambitions. The key elements of the strategy are as following:
- Ecosystem development including customer awareness, securing raw material suppliers, optimizing costs including financing costs.
- Localization of components including batteries
- Development of Charging infrastructure
- Regulations for EVs, including incentives for adoption.
Vinod Agarwal, President of SIAM, said, "The Auto industry has a huge contribution to the country's GDP, but it is also responsible for 30 percent of all greenhouse emissions. As such, it is imperative to reduce carbon intensity by 45 percent by 2025, in line with PMs vision of decarbonization".
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He further added, "Electrification is a key step if we are to achieve India's goal of decarbonization. The FAME 1 and FAME 2 scheme, PLI scheme has played a significant role in pushing the adoption of EVs in India. In fact, 70,000 EV two-wheelers have already been sold."
