India On The Move
“Disruption starts with committing to excellence and taking a stand for your customer.” — Lewis Howes
Mobility is the new disruptor. Like the Internet was. Private enterprises, the world over, are changing the way we commute. Shared mobility is the new buzzword. We are hearing of flying taxis in global cities. Uber, Ola, Didi are some of the dominant names in this genre.
There is also a concerted attempt to reduce carbon emissions by cutting the dependency on fossil fuels. It’s here that EVs, or electric vehicles, become important. Some Scandinavian countries have taken a lead in their push for EVs.
Countries like India are making belated attempts in their quest for a cleaner future. But the absence of a coherent policy framework has come in the way. We have seen how key ministries have spoken in different voices about the future and the role of EVs therein, throwing the auto industry into a tailspin.
All that, however, could be a thing of the past, with the latest EV push coming from no less than Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself. In the first week of September, he will address a global meet that, together with the participation of Niti Aayog and all key stakeholders, will seek to chart a new future. By that time the second phase of FAME India (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles in India) would have come in.
This, then, is the right time to do a cover story on the future of mobility — the electric vehicles. We speak to all the stakeholders, including the industry and Niti Aayog. Rajiv Kumar, Vice Chairman, Niti Aayog says that in the next two months, all the policy wrinkles would be ironed out. And, there are many. To take one of them — there is a huge gap between the GST rates on batteries and electric vehicles.
Talking of GST, on July 1, the landmark indirect tax reform completed a year. The ride has been anything but smooth. There were teething troubles. Smaller enterprises and MSMEs were most adversely impacted. Sectors like textiles, too, were hurt. In a special feature, we take stock of the year gone by. As Union Finance Secretary Hasmukh Adhia tells BW Businessworld, better days are surely ahead.
This landmark legislation was part of PM Modi’s project to build, what he calls, “a new India”.
Whether it’s Digital India, housing for all, or doubling of farm income, the PM says “a new India” would have all that.
We at BW Businessworld kick off a series on mapping Modi’s future India. In the inaugural piece, we look at whether the government’s goal of doubling farm income by 2020 is achievable at all. While a roundtable with domain experts elicits mixed views, Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh, in an interview with BW Businessworld, sounds confident of achieving the objective.
This issue of BW Businessworld comes with all other regular features, and best-in-class columnists.
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