BENGALURU: The Indian auto sector is enthusiastically chanting the ‘green transition mantra’, even as the country progresses on the path of realising its net zero targets by 2070. Narrating the transformation story of the country’s transport sector, Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) Executive Director PK Banerjee said, “Even amidst global disruptions today, India is no longer isolated. We are sticking to our sustainability commitments and pushing decarbonisation -- where we will transition across the adoption of electric mobility, biofuels, CNG, LNG and hydrogen-based transportation -- while looking to generate a circular economy.”
The industry is bullish on ethanol-based mobility, among other green solutions, driven by ‘Atmanirbharta’. “Industry must adopt, align and adapt. Ethanol is expected to be well received in the two-wheeler and passenger vehicle segments, while CNG is a big draw among three-wheeler and bus segments. The Centre is clear about its vision -- to have 10,000 gas stations across 110 cities by 2030,” said Bannerjee.
At the India Energy Week, Reliance Industries and Ashok Leyland unveiled India’s first Hydrogen Internal Combustion Engine-powered heavy-duty truck. The Ashok Leyland H2-ICE heavy-duty truck range (19-35 tonne), while powered by clean and renewable hydrogen, still maintains the architecture akin to a conventional diesel-based combustion engine-run truck, helping quicker migration to cleaner energy sources at a relatively lower cost delta.
“Working with RIL, we have demonstrated our commitment to the Clean Mobility Mission. We want to continue our path to innovate and leverage new technologies and be a leader in sustainable and environment-friendly mobility. Our aim is to make India’s alternative fuel segment self-reliant,” mentioned Ashok Leyland president and Chief Technology Officer Dr N Saravanan.
It’s not just Original Equipment Manufacturers alone, but other stakeholders too that are robustly powering the alternative fuel wave. Integral among them are the Oil Marketing Companies, which are working on the needed fuel innovations, which were exhibited at the event.
“We are working on creating alternative fuels for mobility solutions. Currently, we are in the process of blending ethanol in diesel, to which we introduce an in-house derived additive, to stabilise the blend, thus helping us develop an alternative fuel. We are currently running pilots on trucks with Ashok Leyland, and the results are encouraging,” Bharat Petroleum Corporation Manager (R&D) Rahul Garg told TNIE, adding that the solution could be rolled out for passenger vehicles in due course.