The Hindu Business Line : ‘Car makers must adopt fuel-efficient technology’

Chennai, Dec. 6 With increasing aspirations, disposable income, convenience and a lot of other factors characterising the changing environment and energy consuming patterns of the country, efficient technology and well-defined efficiency norms are the need of the hour, say experts from the Government and automobile industry.

“We cannot stop people’s aspirations for ownership of cars, but what we can certainly do is to call in for the most efficient technology in place,” said Mr M.S. Srinivasan, Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.

He inaugurated the two-day international seminar on ‘Fuel Efficiency Standards and Labelling of Transport Vehicles in India’, organised by the Petroleum Conservation Research Association (PCRA) in association with the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas and the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE).

It is extremely important to adopt a concerted approach that would address the interests of all stakeholders, Mr Srinivasan pointed out.

Delivering his keynote address, Mr Kirit S. Parikh, Member (Energy), Planning Commission, said the country’s total energy consumption is 500 million tonnes (mt) of oil equivalent while it is expected to touch 1,500-2,000 mt in another 20 years. “It is, therefore, imperative for us to aggressively promote energy efficiency,” he said.

BEE, under the Ministry of Power, has the Government legal mandate to implement the energy efficiency norms in all sectors. While it has already implemented norms in the electrical equipment segment, PCRA will formulate strategies and a complete roadmap for implementation of setting fuel efficiency standards in the automobile sector, he said.

Mr Parikh also pointed out that the Government must incentivise energy-efficient cars thereby, creating a competitive environment for car manufacturers to come out with better technology. Even the Government purchase departments must be authorised to buy energy-efficient products, which may entail more initial expense but less recurring expense, instead of buying the lowest quoted products, he said.

Representing the automobile industry, Mr I.V. Rao, Executive Director, Maruti Udyog Ltd, said while supporting the move on setting efficiency norms for vehicles, SIAM is taking pro-active steps to develop fuel efficient small cars for better efficiency and less emission.

“While formulating the roadmap for the norms, we need to carefully consider the aspects of road infrastructure, traffic management, the country’s economy and the user requirements,” he asserted.