India, bucking up Government 2.0

A special report on what the industry peeps expects from the Government 2.0.

Rajiv Ranjan Mishra, Managing Director of CLP India
Over the last five years, India has made significant progress on enhancing the Ease of Doing Business (EoDB). The power sector has experienced reforms that has made the sector more attractive for investments by both – domestic and foreign players. With targets towards growing the renewable generation in the country and the vision of ensuring 24*7 power supply, we remain confident that the sector will continue to make greater strides. We remain committed to contribute to the vision and look forward to working closely with the government and the industry on the next wave of reforms required for the sector.

Sharmila Kumbhat, Director, K-Lite Industries
The smart city lighting depends mainly on LED luminaires and the entire lighting industry is waiting for reduction in GST rates for LED luminaires. Above all the manufacturers of the luminaires have suffered heavily due to import of cheap LED products from outside and unhealthy competition. In fact many of the organised lighting industries small / big are facing closure of their operations unable to compete with the traders. Make in India concept must be implemented in all sincerity. Duty structure can also be reviewed to safeguard Indian Industries.

Naman Chopra, Director, CEO, RexNamo Automotive
We certainly have very high expectations from the newly formed government. We wish the government provides speedy vehicle type-approvals for technologies like hydrogen fuel cells in electric vehicles, and easy registration of retrofitted electric vehicles. I have thousands of customers waiting to get their cars retrofitted to electric drive by my company at a fraction of the cost of buying a new vehicle. Those customers are just waiting for clear guidelines from the state and the central government’s transport authority, about the legal aspect of doing so, while maintaining insurance on their vehicle and registration. Also Delhi Govt. banned 10 year and 15 year old conventional vehicles so many customers are curious if they can get their vehicle registration extended by converting it to electric, rather than buying new one.

Sohinder Gill, Global CEO, Hero Electric and Director, General, SMEV
Localised manufacturing is always a good idea; we must encourage Make in India, which is the ultimate backbone of the industry. My suggestion to the government is only about the timeline. The new scheme was announced on 25th March’ 19, which was supposed to be implemented from 1st April’19. In those 5 days, you are supposed to initiate localising products by 50 per cent, and within 5 months you were to localise 80 per cent of products. In wildest of their dreams, no automotive maker can do the 80 per cent of indigenisation in 5 months, nor can they start indigenisation from the day one. So, the only concern here is the time, as there hasn’t been any time set for the task, localising products hasn’t been initiated yet as they are yet in the designing stage. Therefore, no sale till now.

Nikunj Ghodawat, Chief Financial Officer, CleanMax Solar
The NDA government, in its first term, has demonstrated its intent to carry out important structural reforms such as IBC, GST and UDAY Scheme for power sector which are transformational. We expect that second term mandate to NDA will give required emphasis to further ease private sector participation in power sector by amending the Electricity Act and reforms in DISCOMs. We also need national level policy to harness immense potential of rooftop solar in India. We believe, such measures will attract additional capital in the sector and help government to accelerate India’s adoption of decarbonised electricity in fight against global warming.

Rajesh Naik, Lighting Business Head, Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals Ltd
Support to the lighting industry and the electronics components industry to help create a completely sustainable back end and value chain, so that the dependence on imports is reduced, and India can have independent capabilities and capacities. Support for smart lighting for greater awareness and better pricing is also important. Considering the highly dynamic industry and the rate of technological evolutions, the policies and the framework for ensuring compliance, could be reviewed, making them simpler and less burdensome financially.

Sunil Rathi, Director, Waaree Energies Ltd
We look forward to the newly elected government’s solar implementation policies, and are confident that renewable energy will be a key dimension in their vision as projected in the interim budget. We believe that the much anticipated anti-dumping duty on solar modules is need of the hour, and the primary focus would be on reducing the import of solar equipment from foreign countries such as Thailand, China and Vietnam, thus strengthening rupee denomination and contributing to the nation’s GDP. Moreover, key focus on the adoption of solar solutions by the transport sector, specifically electric vehicles, is expected to yield results.

Ranbir Mehra, Director, Jaquar Lighting
The Modi government has been nothing but a game changer and has played the role of an enabler. According to a report by ELCOMA, the lighting industry is likely to minimise energy consumption for lighting from the present 18 per cent of total power consumption, to 13 per cent by 2020, by introducing more energy efficient products and working more closely with the government to execute various schemes and awareness programmes. The Prime Minister’s UJALA scheme that is being implemented to provide affordable LED lights to Indian homes has given a huge boost to the industry. So, the industry is expecting such additional schemes in the near future that would attract more innovation in the lighting segment.

Kishan Jain, Director, Goldmedal Electricals
We were delighted to hear that, every village in India is getting electrified. We hope that the good work on this front will continue, so that every Indian can upgrade their living conditions. The Government of India has also been promoting the use of LEDs, over the use of traditional bulbs. We look forward to more such initiatives that will help in increasing awareness around the use of energy-efficient lighting solutions. Any policy support by the government that encourages the use of such products would be a welcome step.

Pradeep Menon, Chief Officer, Lakhshya Cyber Security Labs
The Government has done an amazing job in setting up the vision, direction and implementation plans for the smart cities. However, the implementation progress of the same leaves a lot to be desired at the moment. Regarding cybersecurity, my expectation is, that, the government takes into consideration the enormity of the systemic impact that could ensure in case of smart city Cybersecurity attacks. I sincerely expect that Government set up a Cybersecurity Taskforce for Smart Cities in alignment with the National Security Strategy. They should be tasked with the responsibility to ensure that security is built in the first place itself rather than as an afterthought. The task force should release and enforce implementation of detailed security frameworks, guidance, technology security handbooks, smart city security organization framework and minimum-security standards for smart cities across the country to guarantee a secured quality of life to citizens.

Barun Bharadwaj, Regional Business Director (IMEA) – Automotive OEM, Henkel Adhesive Technologies
“The government launched the FAME scheme back in 2015, with an aim to promote eco-friendly vehicles. It was initially limited to only hybrid and electric cars and 2 & 3 wheelers; however, Phase II now ensures that these are given to a wider range of EV’s and will include an investment of about Rs 5,500 crore over five years which will provide subsidies for all types of electric vehicles. India also has a strong focus on promoting manufacturing in the country through the Make in India initiative. The allocated budget, will boost to kick-start the adoption of EVs, further indicating the government is serious in its efforts towards adopting new and sustainable technologies. This decision to extend support to all types of vehicles gives the EV industry a huge impetus and will help the Indian consumers in adopting sustainable, zero-emission vehicles.”

Ankur Technocrats, Manufacturers & Exporters of Special Application Cables & Connectors
There must be more of Indian made products rather than using imported ones. The construction cables used are mostly imported from other countries. Even the government authorities, prefer to have installed foreign made cables. There must be an obligation for the companies to prioritise Indian companies instead of using imported cables, further government must boast the Indian manufacturers to exports the Made in India products and the Indian companies must also consider the Indian manufactured products and not the imported products. Because, if we ignore using or boasting the exports for Indian manufactured products, we are not making the ultimate use of our foreign policy.

Ankit Tayal, Co-Founder, Step Industries
We hope that the newly elected government will focus to our existing national priorities, including empowering businesses and enabling ease of businesses, including building a stronger infrastructure for power electrification across the country, that will not only help the country meet its energy requirements but also boost the business and employment opportunity in the wire and cable industry.