Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good evening and a warm welcome to the 15th Car India and Bike India Awards.

2019 was indeed a forgettable year for the industry. The economic downturn, liquidity pressures, rural sector woes, imminent introduction of new emission norms, and a general lack of direction made the year difficult for most players.

Also, the taxation policy of the government with respect to the automotive sector continued to confound. Fuel prices ruled high and in states like Maharashtra, petrol prices continued to exceed diesel prices by more than Rs nine a litre. Improvements in infrastructure continued to be a work in progress.

Traffic density in our major cities continues to get worse and Indian cities like Bengaluru and Mumbai rank amongst the worst in the world. Delhi continues to be the most polluted city in the world. A governmentsponsored report on pollution in Mumbai pointed out that Mumbai suffered from excessive levels of nitrogen oxide and sulphur, both emitted by diesel. Yet our six-monthly PUC tests do not test vehicles for either sulphur or nitrogen oxide. More European cities continued to ban diesel from the city centres, the latest being Rome.

Traffic discipline on our roads continued to be poor and road rage threatens to explode.

In such a scenario, what can one hope for in 2020? BS VI kicking in from April will certainly improve emission levels from motor vehicles. After Dieselgate, diesel has suffered a lot of reputational damage. Given the current infrastructural constraints, the immediate best option is hybrids, whether self-charging or plug-in. We would strongly urge manufacturers to rapidly introduce their best hybrid products. Hybrid vehicles can help to meet tough emission norms very quickly. Full electric cars will make an appearance but their popularity will be constrained by infrastructural problems. Electric scooters are the most likely to win popularity. Chinese manufacturers never innovated much with internal combustion engines. With electric cars, it will be different, especially with electric components and batteries being sourced from China. Further, as electric cars make an appearance, worries over their supply chain sustainability and ethics will go mainstream. Sixty per cent of the world’s cobalt output is sourced from the Congo and one-third of that is hand-mined, sometimes by children. Currently, about six kilograms of cobalt is needed per EV. Our crystal ball forecasts that hydrogen fuel cells are the future.

We, at Next Gen, are extremely grateful to our sponsors, starting with Shapoorji Pallonji who have been a pillar of support. We are happy to welcome Motul as our lubricant partner. I would also like to thank Mirror Now, our television partners, and Mazars, our validation partners. The jury and the editorial and marketing teams of Car India and Bike India have also done a stellar job and I am grateful to them.

My congratulations in advance to the winners. Have a good evening.

― H S Billimoria, CEO, Next Gen Publishing Private Limited