Policy Brief

Regulatory mechanisms for electric three-wheelers

18 Feb 2020
| Ms Palak Thakur
| Ms Sugandha Pal

Electrification of auto-rickshaws plays an important role in meeting the transport requirement of many large and medium Indian cities and is critical for reducing air pollution and providing clean mobility solutions. The electrification of auto-rickshaws may result in lower operation and maintenance costs as compared to Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) vehicles making them economically viable for the owner/driver. Despite many initiatives and programmes of the government, such as the Faster Adoption of Manufacturing Hybrid and Electric Vehicles (FAME) in India, the growth of electric vehicles (EVs) is still not able to pick up the pace.

Fleet Modernization: A solution to achieve better air quality

10 Dec 2019
| Ms Shivani Sharma
| Dr Anju Goel
| Mr Souvik Bhattacharjya
| Ms Mani Juneja
| Mr Nitin Bajpai
| Dr Sumit Sharma

India's transport demand has grown from a total of 5.3 million in 1981 to 230 million in 2016, with two-wheelers and cars having 73% and 14% share, respectively. Commercial vehicles though constitute only about 5% of the total fleet, contribute to nearly 80% of total PM emissions. Phase-wise implementation of fleet modernization (transforming pre BS-IV commercial vehicles to BS-VI) would lead to a 40-80% reduction in PM and NOx emissions from the sector by 2025. The total number of avoided mortality from attributable to PM5 reduction from fleet modernization between 2020 and 2040 is estimated to be more than 500,000.

Discussion Paper: Rural Roads and the SDGs

08 May 2019
| Mr S Vijay Kumar

All the trends and patterns put together in this paper have long-term implications for incomes and new livelihood opportunities not merely for the farm and off-farm sector but also for a range of people who directly or indirectly depend on the rural road network, and constitute new classes of stakeholders in the network, including industry, service sector, those who access local labour markets, primary producers including mining and quarrying; as well as manufacturers of consumer durables and consumer products.

Estimating vehicular emissions from auto rickshaw plying in Bengaluru

11 Jul 2018
| Ms Palak Thakur
| Ms Sugandha Pal
| Mr Jai Kishan Malik

The growing vehicular pollution has caused serious health hazard in Indian metropolitan cities, Bengaluru being one of the major victims. There are various reasons accounting for the vehicular emissions. The objective of this research paper is to estimate the vehicular emissions in form of carbon dioxide (CO2), particulate matter 10 (PM10) and nitrogen oxide (NOX) emitted by the auto rickshaws plying in Bengaluru city and recommend policy based solution based upon the estimated alternative scenarios.

Designing a Business Model for Sustainable Management of End-of-Life Vehicles (ELVs) in India

28 Mar 2017
| Mr Nitish Arora
| Dr Shilpi Kapur
| Mr Souvik Bhattacharjya

This policy brief proposes a framework/business model for sustainable management of end-of-life vehicles in India. It not only suggest ways for collection and management of the ELVs, but also outline ways to obtain maximum economic benefits from their recovery, creating social values and preventing environmental degradation along with fulfilling the relevant legislations. over-lay

Biofuel Promotion in India for Transport: Exploring the Grey Areas

07 Feb 2015
| Dr Kaushik Ranjan Bandyopadhyay

India happens to be the world's fourth largest energy consumer and a consumer of crude and petroleum products after the United States,China, and Japan. The net oil import dependency of India rose from 43 per cent in 1990 to 71 per cent in 2012 that resulted in a huge strain on the current account as well as the government exchequer. Transport sector accounts for the largest share (around 51 per cent) in terms of consumption of petroleum products in India. Nearly 70 per cent of diesel and 99.6 per cent petroleum are consumed by the transport sector and the demand is expected to grow at 6-8 per cent over the coming years in tandem with the rapidly expanding vehicle ownership.

Proliferation of Cars in Indian Cities: Let Us Not Ape the West

03 Jul 2014
| Ms Akshima Tejas Ghate
| Mr S Sundar

India currently has about 15 million cars, which is equivalent to 13 cars per 1,000 population. While this by itself is not high, it has to be noted that it is a national average and some cities like Delhi, Chennai, and Coimbatore have more than 100 cars per 1,000 population. Different estimates show that the number of cars in India will increase to about 35 cars per 1,000 population by 2025. This would amount to about 45-60 million cars on our roads and in some cities more than 300 cars per 1,000 population.