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The automobile industry has sought an “undisturbed roadmap” on regulations and a single ministry to ensure smooth transition to the new emission regime and to remain an engine of growth in the manufacturing sector.
“The auto industry’s operations and plans are based on long-term road maps which lay down the direction for the industry and hence are the investment decisions,” Vinod K Dasari, President of SIAM and Managing Director of Ashok Leyland, said at the 56th Annual Convention of the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers.
He said there was urgent need for creating a roadmap on emission, safety and fuel-efficiency regulations that could provide a clear direction over the next 5-10 years.
“But, once such timelines and roadmaps are finalised or agreed upon after extensive expert-level consultations, they should not be changed due to any external influence,” he added.
According to Pawan Goenka, Executive Director, Mahindra & Mahindra,“What will stop us from achieving the ambitious goal we have set for ourselves is only if we score a self-goal.”
He asserted that the growth agenda of the auto sector should not be hijacked by non-consequential and unimportant issues, which are unnecessarily hyped and take the attention away from the agenda of nation-building or make in India. “For the next 10 years, the partnership between the government and industry becomes more important than what it was for the last 10 years. Policy alignment will play a very, very important role during this period,” he added.
Dasari highlighted the auto sector’s plea for a single ministry to handle the regulations and emission norms. “One of the issues that has been worrying the auto industry for some time now is multiple ministries getting involved in formulating regulations for the auto industry without having holistic understanding of the vehicle as a complete system.”
Single agency“We have, therefore, sought one single ministry and one single agency that would have mandate to formulate all regulations for the sector,” he added.
Wilfried Aulbur, Managing Partner India, Chairman, Middle East and Africa – Head Automotive Asia, Roland Berger India, pointed out that the Indian automotive industry, which contributes seven per cent to the GDP and eight per cent to central tax collections, deserved a nodal ministry for future growth.
He also said a holistic long-term policy perspective is needed while formulating regulations for the Indian auto industry. He cited how western governments supported their local champions by way of various support measures.
Girish Shankar, Secretary- Department of Heavy Industry, admitted that any disruption to existing framework of rules that were followed and complied with would be disastrous for the investment climate and the policy stability scenario.
He assured that the government was committed to have source apportionment studies done to nail the main source of pollution in the cities and come out with a well-deliberated course of action.
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