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Rahul P N
170103172

Future of Automobile Industry
Idea:
With Indian Government’s immediate action plan of leapfrogging the BS-V emission norms to
adopt BS-VI emission norms by 2020 and the rapid advancement in electric vehicles technology
to get them into production mode and the rapid prototyping and testing of driverless cars, how will
the of Automobile manufacturers approach this challenge and grasp the key opportunities and how
will the automobile sector as a whole evolve to the technology changes?

Topic: With the catching up of EVs and BC - VI norms, how will Automobile industry evolve?

Context:
In February 2016, when the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways notified the
enforcement of the new BS-VI emission regime from 1 April 2020, it spurred a whirl of activity
across the automotive sector and ancillary industries. Recently from 1st April 2017, Indian
government mandated all vehicles to comply with BS - IV emission norms. With the abrupt
announcement, the automobile industry, especially the two-wheeler sector was taken aback
suddenly. Even though after giving repeated notices to the automobile manufacturers, many huge
names failed to comply with the norm deadlines set by the Indian government. Though most of
the four-wheeler manufacturers were already a step forward in complying and adapting to the
norms. This was a major milestone achieved in the BS - VI emission roadmap.
Government, in the recent budget increased state support to the production of electric and
hybrid cars by 42%, underscoring its intent to improve air quality in a nation that is home to some
of the world’s most polluted urban centers. The programme on Faster Adoption of Manufacturing
of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles, which goes by the acronym FAME, got Rs 175 crore for FY-18
versus Rs 123 crore in FY-17. When the policy was announced in FY-15, the government had
allocated Rs 75 crore: The support has been increasing to reflect growing industry interest.
Anant Geete, minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, who announced the scheme in
New Delhi in 2015, had said under FAME, India would sell 6-7 million hybrids and EVs annually
in the six-year period. The aim was to support the electric vehicle market development and
manufacturing eco-system.
With the fast pace of development in the western world on the electric cars technology and
driverless vehicle technology, and the launch of sustainable charging solutions for the electric cars,
it would be interesting to see the response of automobile sector and the various strategic moves
which it can take to adopt these fast growing technologies and roll out production cars for people
to benefit two-dimensionally – firstly the reduction in fuel costs, secondly contributing to the
reduction in environmental pollution.

Sources:
1. https://auto.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/industry/challenges-and-opportunities-
for-auto-industry-with-bs-vi-norms/61217044
2. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/auto/news/passenger-vehicle/cars/budget-
2017-govt-extends-subsidy-for-electric-vehicles-to-fy-18-with-42-higher-
allocation/articleshow/56940069.cms