As a follow up of last year’s SIMBA India
Priority Workshop, the SIMBA India National Event was organised by SIAM on 21st and 22nd
November 2007
at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi.
SIAM coordinated this National Event under the EU Programme
for Strengthening road transport
research cooperation between Europe and
emerging international markets (SIMBA). SIMBA aims to increase cooperation
between the EU and the emerging markets of China, India, Brazil and South Africa in Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS),
Infrastructure and Automotive.
In his welcome address, Mr S Sandilya, Treasurer SIAM and Group Chairman, Eicher Group said that for the automobile industry while
the troughs and peaks in sales performance are very important, we also have to
take cognizance of both safety and environmental imperatives. The Indian
Industry is not only looking at local emissions but also into the GHG gases
leading to global warming.
The Guest of Honour on the occasion, Mr S K
Dash, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Shipping Road Transport and Highways said
that Government of India is fully seized of the enormous potential of ITS to
provide safe, secure, comfortable and swift mobility.
Mr Vincent Blervaque of ERTICO leading a 20 member team from EU
for the workshop said that countries across the world faced similar challenges
in mobility including congestion, pollution, effects of CO2 and
accidents and fatalities. He said ITS offers solutions to these problems and
there were enough opportunities for India and EU to cooperate.
The event participation consisted
of Senior Government Officials, Academic Institutions, IT Industry, Auto
Component Manufacturers and OEM’s.
During the event, several important cooperation priorities were
discussed. Concrete short and medium-term actions and the working groups are formed
to further the discussion on the priorities and possible future activities in
the areas of Automotive, ITS and Infrastructure :
Automotive
- Use of Bio Diesel in Automotive Applications
- Assessment of Suitability & Evaluation of 10 %
Ethanol Blend on Gasoline Vehicles for Emission Performance & Material
Compatibility
- Hydrogen Production, Storage, Distribution & Use
- Hybrid Vehicles
ITS
- Integrated
Telematics platform /OBU
- Road
User Charging (Highway tolling)
- Advanced
Traffic Management
- Public
Transport
Infrastructure
- Driving patterns on Four lane roads
- Marginalised Material - Low
volume Traffic Roads
Long Term
Infrastructure Projects
- Pedestrian impact with regard to buses and trucks
- Framework
for mobility behavioural change from Private to Public transport
- Inter
modality & Integrated transport
Speaking at the concluding
session, Dr Indraneel Ghose,
Adviser Science and Technology, the European Commission said that a budget of
55 million euros could be available for cooperative research for multi-partner,
multi-country project under the European Union Framework Programme
-7 which is due for approval by the European Parliament.
SIAM is the apex industry association representing 38 leading vehicle and
vehicular engine manufacturers. It seeks to promote sustainable development of
the Indian automotive industry and plays a catalytic role in fulfilling the
vision of the Government of India to make India an Automotive Hub. SIAM is the India national coordinator for SIMBA and an
active member of a Core Group on Automotive Research (CAR).