IES 2024: Santosh Iyer, Bipul Chandra, & Rajeev Chaba discuss future of EVs, green fuel in India

India Economic Summit: India Economic Summit: At the fourth distinguished edition of Republic Media Network's India Economic Summit, Santosh Iyer, MD and CEO of Mercedes-Benz India, Rajeev Chaba, CEO of Emeritus, JSW MG Motor India, and Bipul Chandra, MD of Ducati India, shared some insights about the Indian automotive landscape and how Viksit Bharat is shaping the industry.

Speaking at the event, Santosh Iyer, MD and CEO of Mercedes Benz India said, “The Viksit Bharat is based on green energy transformation as well. I think India has one of the most ambitious plans when it comes to green energy. That means from the net importer of energy the aspiration is to become the net exporter of green energy”

He also highlighted that the company has ambition that by 2039 the company tend to become carbon neutral.

Bipul Chandra, MD of Ducati India highlighted the Ducati’s global operations. He said, “ Currently, our supply comes from Itlay and Thailand, especially Thailand because of various reasons including the distance part. However, I must add that India has very strong base as a vendor. So while we do not assemble our bikes in India, we have lot many vendors who supply to us, for both our factories [in] Thailand and Itlay. In future, if something about the threshold clearance happens, we would be happy to invest in India.

Rajeev Chaba, CEO Emeritus, JSW MG Motor India at the summit highlighted the importance of localisation in manufacturing of electric vehicles in India. Chaba said, “ We are trying to localise the EV ecosystem in a big way. It’s not only about EV parts but also the EV ecosystem, which consists of chargers, and the whole charging management system. On the EV side, if you look at the localisation, we still import from all over the place - as an industry. We are trying to localise a lot of those big assemblies to start with localising to getting to tier-2, Tier-3, and Tier-4 components.

Republic Media Network's India Economic Summit 2024:

In addition to the FM Sitharaman and  Santosh Iyer, MD and CEO of Mercedes-Benz India, Rajeev Chaba, CEO of Emeritus, JSW MG Motor India, and Bipul Chandra, MD of Ducati the event will also see the participation of other industry leaders, including Info Edge's founder Sanjeev Bhikchandani, Aman Gupta, co-Founder of Boat, and Baba Ramdev, co-Founder, Patanjali

The Indian Economic Summit is held at the Republic Media Headquarters, which is Asia's largest newsroom centre. The Indian Economic Summit has become a landmark event that gathers business magnates, industry leaders, policymakers, and economists under one roof to dialogue on India's future as a global economic powerhouse. Discussions will delve into transformative ideas around policy innovation, infrastructure development, and inclusive growth to shape a vibrant, self-reliant India.

(Originally published first on Republic World)