Autocar India

As India Auto Inc continues to grapple with ever-tightening emission regulations spurred by efforts to curb pollution, there is a general consensus among major automakers about the eventual shift away from conventional internal combustion (IC) engines. Electrification, at this point, seems to be the only way possible to strike the right balance between the need of mobility and that of reduced environmental impact.

The Hindu Businessline

In order to get out of the current crisis and not miss the festive season, we require clarity from the government, here and now, on GST and scrappage policy,” Guenter Butschek, Managing Director and Chief Exective Officer, Tata Motors, said. Not only Tata Motors but also other companies including Mahindra & Mahindra and two-wheeler maker TVS Motor are also seeking GST cut for automobiles.

The Times of India

A man recently died of electrocution after he touched a gate near his house in northeast Delhi’s New Usmanpur. A police probe revealed that an illegal e-rickshaw charging point set up by a group of power thieves in the area had caused the accident. The miscreants had hooked a cable to an overheard power unit and wound the wire on the iron gate.

Financial Express

Pawan Goenka, managing director at Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), said whenever there was a slowdown in auto sales in the past, a cut in taxes has helped in revival. “When the 2013-14 slowdown happened, there was a 4% reduction in excise duty, in 2008-09, it was a 6% cut. Data says immediately after the reduction, volumes went up,” Goenka said at a round-table with the media at the sidelines of the Siam annual convention.

Livemint

The union government will not ban conventional internal combustion engine-driven vehicles to promote electric mobility while also looking at reducing taxes on hybrids to boost demand in the short term, said Nitin Gadkari, union minister for road transport and highways, at the annual convention of the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM).

The Economic Times

Automotive industry body SIAM on Friday sought government intervention to help the sector in smooth transition to BS-VI emission norms from April next year, saying the prospect of abrupt stoppage of manufacturing and sales of BS-IV vehicles overnight posed a “monumental” challenge. Speaking at the annual convention of the Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA), SIAM President Rajan Wadhera said vehicle manufacturers and component suppliers were on track to meet stricter emission norms, but expressed concern over availability of BS-VI fuel across the country.

India Times

Electric buses in India are rapidly increasing in number. Yet they are still limited to operations within a city. Not anymore, as Mumbai Central ST bus depot has now launched the country’s first inter-city electric bus. Named ‘Shivai’, the 43-seater electric bus claims a range of 300 km on a single charge. Good enough for a trip from Mumbai to Pune.

Moneycontrol

Indian automobile companies on September 5 sought government intervention through a cut in goods and services tax to stem a deepening slump in vehicle sales, warning that any further delay will put a million jobs at risk. “Till now, 15,000 contractual manufacturing jobs have been lost and another million are at risk if the slowdown is not reversed,” news agency IANS cited Rajan Wadhera, president, Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam), as saying at the group’s annual convention in New Delhi.

The Times of India

With 40 electric buses on the road and another 190 buses in the pipeline the city roads will have adequate environment friendly electric buses to provide comfortable transport system to the city dwellers. West Bengal transport minister Suvendu Adhikary said in the state assembly on Friday that the electric bus model was so successful that the two neighbouring states – Bihar, Tripura and Assam had decided to replicate the model.

The Telegraph

All apartment blocks to come up in Calcutta have to reserve a certain portion of their parking area to set up electric vehicle charging stations, mayor Firhad Hakim said on Friday. Apartment blocks with built-up area of 20,000sqm or more have to reserve 10 per cent of the parking area to set up the charging station.

Livemint

Amidst an aggressive push for a switch to electric mobility, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday said the government will come out with a policy on electric vehicles shortly. With pollution levels rising in the national capital, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led Delhi government had set a target to promote the use of electric vehicles. The government released a draft policy in November.

The Indian Express

E-cars that double up as mobile power sources to electric vehicles (EV) incorporating folded e-scooters in the boot as a compliment to the main vehicle, both for last mile connectivity and as a back-up option if the user were to ever be stranded at some point due to low battery in the car.