Accelerate Transition Towards Electrification

“The automotive industry alone contributes 18 percent of the global emission today. Therefore, curbing emissions, as an industry, is important to drive the world towards a ‘carbon neutral’ tomorrow. It is imperative for us to accelerate the transition towards electrification.”

March 2023: Shailesh Chandra, MD, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles Ltd & Tata Passenger Electric Mobility Ltd. delivered the virtual Keynote Address at the Future Series “EV Ecosystem-Challenges and Opportunities in India” Conclave organized by the Alumni bodies of IIT (BHU), Varanasi (Association of IIT BHU Alumni (AIBA) & AASSII), PanIIT Alumni India, and Pro MFG Media recently.

The Conclave’s supporting partners were ACMA India, MeitY-NASSCOM Centre of Excellence, IIT Delhi Alumni Association and PHD Chamber of Commerce and industry. This Conclave brought together the entire mobility ecosystem on one platform.

Mr. Chandra (an alumni of IIT (BHU), Varanasi) started off by giving an insightful overview of where the automotive industry stands today. “The automotive industry alone contributes 18 percent of the global emission today,” he pointed out. “Therefore, curbing emissions, as an industry, is important to drive the world towards a ‘carbon neutral’ tomorrow. It is imperative for us to accelerate the transition towards electrification,” he added.

“Certain countries have set firm timelines for transitioning to zero emission vehicles. Stringent emission norms and series of actions to speed up the development of the full EV ecosystem aligned to the set timelines is being adopted. Consequently, automobile manufacturers have pledged to phase out ICE vehicles and enhance their EV manufacturing capacity. Globally, manufacturers have also set their own targets to achieve carbon neutrality and have pledged US$ 550 million to achieve these targets. As the fifth largest economy in the world, achieving net zero is critical for India, Mr. Chandra explained.

“Given that the auto industry is a significant contributor to the issue of air pollution and CO2 emissions, electrification of the auto industry, therefore, becomes even more important. It will also have the added benefits of substantially reducing the dependency on imports of fossil fuels. The government of India has been playing a key role in the electrification of mobility. With the introduction of the FAME Program, customers have benefitted through demand incentives,” he remarked.

“It is important to emphasize the need for collaborative and synchronized efforts among the various ecosystem players. This will ensure optimization and efficient use of resources while creating the highest impact and benefit for all stakeholders. And I say this confidence based on our own experience of developing such an ecosystem, which is the Tata UniEVerse. We leveraged on different domain expertise of various Group companies like Tata Power, Tata AutoCompo, Tata Chemicals, etc. to work in a coordinated manner and overcome this chicken and egg issue of driving the transition to electrification. Finally, this growth has to be supported with a surge in talent across engineering, technology, manufacturing and service sectors. Premium institutes like IITs can help leapfrog by developing specialized courses in areas pertaining to electric mobility such as battery architecture. Enhancing industry-academia will also play a significant role in the development of the landscape of electric mobility in the country,” Mr. Chandra elaborated.

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