Golden Quadrilateral completed: C P Joshi
Speaking at the inaugural ceremony of the 11th Auto Expo, Mr. Praful Patel, Minister of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises, Government of India appreciated the growth of the automotive industry and its future growth prospects. The Minister said that the industry has come a long way in a short period. He highlighted the fact that the industry at present is the seventh largest in the world and would soon be the sixth largest. Further, he said the industry had a bright future, given India’s size, geography and the pace of economic development. He also appreciated the growth and the size of the auto-components industry, which has transformed itself from just catering to the domestic market to supplying to global manufacturers as well.
Commenting on the future growth path, the minister said that the automotive industry has reached a level where it should now focus more on technology development at home rather than just looking at importing or imitating technology from other countries. Moreover, given that this industry is one of the largest consumers of fossil fuels, it should focus more on developing greener/ electric vehicles.
Further, he acknowledged the industry’s concerns about the uncertainty regarding Government’s policy on diesel vehicles. The minister also assured the industry that the government would make efforts to make the directions of future growth much clear. He said that there was a misconception that diesel based engines are not clean.
Further, the Minister highlighted the concerns of the industry especially in terms of infrastructure availability. However, he was hopeful that establishment of National Automotive Board would help address these issues within the framework of government and industry and thus facilitate the growth of the industry.
Dr. C.P. Joshi, Minister of Road Transport & Highways, Government of India started his speech by highlighting the importance of the roads sector as the arterial lifeline of the economy. He further highlighted the progress of government’s initiatives on development of roads, road transport and road safety. The Golden Quadrilateral is now complete and four-fifth of the North-South East-West corridors is now four-laned. He appreciated Auto Expo’s focus on road safety in the form of a separate section on the same. He highlighted one of the major concerns in terms of quality of auto-components sold in after-sale market and the widespread use of spurious auto parts. The Asli-Nakli section of the Auto Expo would be helpful in tackling this menace. The government’s attempt at standardization of quality is also an effort in this direction.
Mr. Rajive Kaul, Past President & Chairman – Trade Fairs, CII said that the prospects for the automobile market in India is bright, given that it is the second fastest growing automotive market in the world.
Mr. Muthuraman, President, CII said that the industry has been going through a difficult time since the beginning of 2011. Mr. S. Sandliya, President, Society for Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) said that the Indian industry is facing a challenge in the backdrop of the global economic distress in the automotive industry. Mr. Arvind Kapur, President, Automotive Component Manufacturers Association (ACMA) highlighted the importance of the auto-components industry by mentioning that the 75 percent value addition in the vehicle industry is contributed by auto-components.