New Delhi, June 5, 2025: The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) organized its 5th International Conference, themed “Revolutionizing Mobility: Driving the Automotive Industry Towards a Clean and Circular Future,” on the occasion of World Environment Day 2025. The conference was graced by dignitaries from the Government of India, industry leaders, think tanks, and engineering converged to deliberate on environment-conscious mobility systems, circularity, accelerate change, and empowering responsible action.
The program also featured a short street play by students of Gyan Mandir Public School, Naraina Vihar, highlighting the issue of plastic pollution, and aimed at raising awareness among the audience. This was followed by a felicitation ceremony, where in prizes were presented to students for a painting competition, titled “Nature’s Palette”, organised on the occasion of World Environment Day. A total of 9 students were awarded the prizes from various schools of Delhi NCR.
The conference included four sessions: Empowering Individuals for Responsible Waste Management – aligned with Mission LiFE; Automotive Industry’s Role in Reducing Plastic Footprint & Global Best Practices; Innovative Tyre and Used Oil Recycling Technologies to Reduce Auto Industry’s Impact on Environment; and Driving Battery and E-Waste Recycling practices in the Automotive Industry. These sessions highlighted strategies, new technologies, and industry collaborations to reduce environmental impact and support circular economy goals in the automotive sector.
The inaugural session, themed ‘Empowering Individuals for Responsible Waste Management – Aligned with Mission LiFE,’ discussed fostering individual responsibility and community action to promote sustainable waste practices.
Delivering the opening address, Mr. Shailesh Chandra, President, SIAM and Managing Director, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles Ltd. & Tata Passenger Electric Mobility Ltd., said, “To advance the circular economy, we need three key interventions–first, a robust policy framework to encourage OEMs to adopt light weighting technologies and efficient vehicle lifecycle management; second, an incentive or disincentive mechanism to promote the scrapping of end-of-life vehicles, with the help of 125 approved scrapping facilities, of which 65 are operational; and third, strengthening recycling infrastructure through joint industry-government campaigns to establish effective EoL vehicle collection centers.”
Guest of Honour His Excellency Mr. Kenneth Nóbrega, Ambassador of the Federative Republic of Brazil, Embassy of Brazil, said, “As Brazil prepares to host COP30 in 2025, we are shifting from negotiation to implementation in the global fight against climate change, calling on stakeholders and policymakers to accelerate economic transformation. Mobility is undergoing a profound revolution, with greener mobility promoted through robust carbon accounting standards. Energy efficiency, recyclability, safety, and technological neutrality are the pillars of our transformational agenda in Brazil. Our collaboration with India has fostered concrete strategic partnerships, strengthening trade and policy alignment to drive sustainable mobility and economic opportunities in both nations.”
Guest of Honour Dr. Hanif Qureshi, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Heavy Industries, Govt. of India, said, “We are proud to collaborate closely with Brazil on biofuels, with 20% ethanol blending already achieved in India, and over 11 companies developing flex-fuel engines. Cleaner technologies are the future, and alongside the green economy, we are prioritising indigenisation of manufacturing. Hydrogen adoption is advancing, and to curb pollution from old vehicles, we are launching an electric truck program with ₹500 crores allocated to incentivise scrapping diesel trucks and promote locally manufactured components. Additionally, India is rolling out 14,000 electric buses, the largest tender of its kind, alongside initiatives for hybrid and electric ambulances. With SIAM and industry efforts, we are making rapid progress across CBG, flex-fuels, EVs and hydrogen vehicles.”
Guest of Honour Mr. Abhay Bakre, Director, National Green Hydrogen Mission, Government of India, said, “With matured technology and robust supply chains, EVs have scaled rapidly in India since their introduction 7-8 years ago. By 2035, we anticipate a significant number of hydrogen vehicles on our roads, driven by SIAM’s professional guidance and OEMs’ commitment. Green hydrogen infrastructure is evolving with 10 sanctioned hydrogen refueling corridors to enable decentralised access. By 2030, we aim for over a thousand hydrogen-powered trucks, with the transport sector being the first sector to create the demand for green hydrogen, closing the 25-30% cost gap with diesel within three years.”
Delivering the closing remarks and vote of thanks, Mr. Rajesh Menon, Director General, SIAM, said, “The World Environment Day reminds us of our responsibility towards nature. We at SIAM remain committed to taking progressive action across all cleaner powertrains and in driving circularity in the automotive sector to accelerate sustainable mobility in the country.”
During the first Thematic Session, themed “Automotive Industry’s Role in Reducing Plastic Footprint & Global Best Practices,” speakers discussed strategies to minimise plastic use, adopt sustainable materials, and implement global best practices across the value chain. The session was chaired by Mr. Vikram Gulati, Chairman, SIAM Economic Research Group and Country Head & EVP – Corporate Affairs & Governance, Toyota Kirloskar Motor Pvt Ltd.
The session included presentations by Ms. Deepti Kapil, Additional Director, CPCB; Mr. Saurabh Poddar, Managing Director, Sellowrap Group; and Mr. Sahil Ghai, Vice President, Sustainability, Shakti Plastic Industries, who highlighted biodegradable and bioplastic as well as plastic waste management innovations for the automotive sector. Further insights on integrating plastics into the circular economy were shared by Dr. S K Goyal (NEERI), Mr. Suneel Pandey (TERI), Mr. Jai Kumar (GIZ), and Mr. Ashim Sharma (NRI Consulting & Solutions).
The second thematic session, themed “Innovative Tyre and Used Oil Recycling Technologies to Reduce Auto Industry’s Impact on Environment,” highlighted emerging solutions to reduce environmental impact. The session was chaired by Mr. Rajendra Petkar, Chairman, SIAM Sustainable Mobility Group and President & CTO, Tata Motors.
The session included insightful presentations from Mr. Arvind Nautiyal, Member Secretary, Commission for Air Quality Management; Dr. Abhinav Akhilesh, Partner, Grant Thornton Bharat LLP; Mr. Sharath Pallerla, Advisor, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change; and Mr. Saurabh Dalela, Director, International Centre for Automotive Technology (ICAT). The session also included contributions from Mr. Virendra Rathod, President, GRP Limited; Dr. Rinkel Jindal, Head-Global Regulatory Compliance, Apollo Tyres and Convener, ELT-SC, Automotive Tyre Manufacturer Association (ATMA)/ITTAC; Mr. Sarvesh Tomar, General Manager, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd.; and Mr. Arul Xavier Prince, National Manager – Lubricant, Shell.
The third thematic session, themed “Driving Battery and E-Waste Recycling Practices in Automotive Industry,” discussed advancing sustainable recycling solutions and regulatory frameworks. The session was chaired by Ms. Pamela Tikku, Co-Chairperson, SIAM Sustainable Mobility Group and Vice President & Head, Auto Group Public Affairs, Mahindra & Mahindra.
The session included a presentation by Mr. Yogesh Thakar, Director, PwC India, followed by a panel discussion moderated by PwC. The panel included distinguished speakers such as Mr. ALN Rao, Head of Circularity, Recykal; Mr. Pawandeep Singh, VP, Attero Recycling Pvt. Ltd.; Mr. Siddharth Nautiyal, Head- Strategy & New Initiatives, Lohum Cleantech; and Dr. Rashid Hasan, Senior Advisor, SIAM.
In his closing remarks, Mr. Prashant K Banerjee, Executive Director, SIAM, said, “SIAM is proud to advance the vision of ‘One Earth, One Family, One Future’ through our multiple nature-positive initiatives in the automotive sector. India and SIAM have made significant progress on all fronts of sustainable mobility, including electrification, biofuel, and hydrogen as a future mode of transport. We also received over 150 entries from school students for a painting competition to promote awareness of sustainable mobility and road safety for the next generation.”
SIAM is leading the charge towards carbon neutrality by 2070 and advancing the Viksit Bharat initiative by 2047 with several key decarbonisation initiatives. These include the electrification of mobility (विद्युतीकरण), promoting ethanol use in transportation (जैविक पहल), enhancing recycling practices (चक्रीयता), developing infrastructure for gas-based mobility (गैस गतिशीलता), and fostering the hydrogen fuel ecosystem (हरित हाइड्रोजन).
