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AUTOMOTIVE TECHNOLOGIES


Automotive Technologies is one of 5 identified mission areas under TDM-II. Indian automotive industry urgently needs technologies to produce fuel efficient, environmental friendly, lighter, safer, and cost competitive engines and vehicles. Therefore, some of the areas where there is a need for nationally focused efforts in technology development are: advanced materials, advanced manufacturing techniques, newer and innovative technologies for utilization of alternative fuels, emission abatement, fuel economy improvement, safety enhancement, engine management systems, embedded vehicle control system.

In this phase of TDM, there are 33 projects ( 2 from IITD, 2 from IITM, 11from IITKG, 4 from IISc ,8 from IITR,6 from IITK ) in automotive technology areas that aim at providing technological solutions in a wide spectrum of subjects ranging from development of advanced materials, hydrogen fueled bus, fuel efficient two wheeler engine, electric vehicle to intelligent vehicles.

Leading Automotive OEMs and Component industries like Ashok Leyland, Tata Auto Components Ltd., Harita Industries, TVS Motors, Motorola, Tata Steel, Tata Motors have committed participation in these projects.

On completion, the mission will certainly add to the competitiveness of the Indian automotive industry and help them produce fuel efficient, lighter, safer and environmental friendly vehicles which are globally competitive. It will also go a long way in establishing a close working relationship between the industry and academia.

National Needs

Indian automotive industry contributes significantly to the overall GDP of the nation and also provides significant business and employment opportunities. It is an engine of growth for the Indian economy. It is one of the key industries whose well being is very important in our vision of improving the living standard of our population.

Indian automotive industry, today, is in a transition stage. In the past, operating in a license regime, Indian automotive industry has been accustomed to buying most of its technology needs from outside and did not give much importance to development of indigenous technology.

With the liberalization of economy, the decades old monopolistic environment of the Indian automotive industry where only a handful of vehicle models were available with a long waiting list, gradually gave way to a highly competitive, complex and rapidly changing market which was not limited to domestic market alone. Today the number of vehicle models available are more than hundred and not a month goes without offerings of newer and more advanced model. Today the market is customer driven with performance, cost, fuel economy and reliability being the key drivers.

At the same time the Govt. of India has forced (and will continue to do so in future) more stringent emission regulations which calls for introduction of a host of advanced emission abatement and other technologies. The market has slowly become a technology driven market where MNCs are using "technology forcing" as a route to keep their market share. Thus the need for Indian automotive industry to develop/ acquire a range of new technologies in a very short time has never been so acute .This situation will continue to be so in future as well.

Ironically for the Indian automotive industry, the cost of technology development has increased manifold and increasing product cost has put a squeeze on profit margins affecting their ability to outsource expensive technologies. Moreover, the technologies are not so easily available any more from outside. Instead of giving a license or setting up joint ventures with an Indian industry, many intentionally renowned automobile manufactures have started production in India to take advantage of great commercial opportunities Indian markets offers. Even in the existing joint ventures, the control has slowing moved into hands of MNCs. In order to compete and retain their market share in the face of this onslaught by global automotive leaders , the Indian automotive industry have to urgently upgrade its technological capabilities. It must leap frog the technological gap if they desire to remain competitive in domestic as well as global market. The Indian automotive companies still have option of accessing the global knowledge. But the past experience is that, the key technologies are either not available at all for sale or if available, they are prohibitively expensive to remain competitive in the market place.

Some of the issues we face are unique to India (such that 70% of our vehicle population consists of two wheelers and 7 out of the 10 dirtiest cities are in India) and innovative technologies relevant to its need are needed. Three wheelers are unique to our market and no technologies are available from advanced countries to optimize such vehicles. We also need to improve significantly the fuel economy of our vehicles .We import 72 % of our petroleum requirement which is likely to go up to 92 % by the 2020. This will also lead to reduction in CO2 emissions. Weight reduction using advanced materials is a key area which needs strong technology development emphasis.

Indian automotive industry urgently needs technologies to produce fuel efficient, environmental friendly, lighter, safer and cost competitive engines, and vehicles. Advanced materials and manufacturing techniques, technologies for using alternative fuels, emission abatement, fuel economy improvement , safety enhancement, engine management systems, embedded vehicle control system are some of the areas where we must focus our efforts.

The scope of the projects under this mission spans a wide range of technologies which aim to meet our national needs. The projects proposed emphasize on development of advance materials, clean and fuel efficient technologies

Mission Objectives, Deliverables, and Impact

Objectives

The principal objectives of TDM- Phase II Automotive Technologies Mission are to

Specific objectives of individual projects are listed under each project (see Annexure I.)

Deliverables

The trust areas for the Automotive Technology Mission are:

A) Energy Efficiency & Alternative Fuel Technologies
B) Automotive Safety
C) Automotive electronics & Control
D) Advanced Automotive Materials

The specific deliverables from these projects include work in these broad areas are given below:

A) Energy Efficiency & Alternative Fuel Technologies

B) Automotive Safety

C) Automotive Electronics & Control

D) Advanced Automotive Materials

Impact

The impact of the deliverables will be significant in many ways: