Rubber Journal Asia Country Focus
India: an emerging automotive hub and a growth centre for rubber With a CAGR of over 15% during the last
Dr Rainier van Roessel, Member of the Board of Management of Lanxess, said
five to seven years, the automotive sector is
that the company has been working
aptly described as the next sunrise sector
closely with its customers to develop the technologies that enable “Green
of the Indian economy. Thus, the country’s
Tyres”, to reduce rolling resistance
growing rubber industry and its contribution
without sacrificing safety or durability
to the transportation sector was the focus of the recent Rubber Day hosted by German
However, he also noted that only 1% of Indians own a car, compared with 16% regionally, stating that “it is only a matter of time before India also catches up on car ownership.” He went on to say, “If this happens, much more has to be done in our sector to drive down the accident rate in this country’s highways and to make vehicles cleaner and more efficient. And new developments in rubber technology have a great deal to contribute to these improvements.” He added that technologically engineered safer tyres can reduce road accidents by 5%. Along with the rapid increase of traffic on its roadways, the country’s awareness for road safety needs to be heightened. As the regulatory framework becomes stricter, pressure to improve the environmental and safety performance of vehicles is also growing. In the “Future of Mobility in Asia” discussion, panelists Dr Wilfried Aulbur, Murali Gopalan, Arup Chandra and Jan Paul de Vries, said that while technology is available, infrastructure needs to be improved, pointing out that only 15% of Indian roads are compliant to standards. In his speech, MF Farooqui, Secretary, Department of Heavy Industry, Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, Government of India, said, ”In India, we are looking at inclusive growth. This can be done with government funding in the private sector to increase the road network. This will also happen as a result of consumers aspirations to improve their standard of living. Both will contribute to the 7% growth expected as per the current five year plan.” He also appraised current developments in the automotive sector in the context of growth and integrating safety as “relevant for India”. He said, “Green technology and environment concern is really important since the automotive sector is mainly responsible for carbon emissions.” In view of this, Farooqui said the government has recently launched the National Electric Mobility plan, which is an ambitious plan to ensure that 6 to 7 million hybrid/electric vehicles (of which 4 million will be
speciality firm Lanxess, the world’s largest manufacturer of synthetic rubber, which has production facilities for rubber chemicals at its subsidiary Rhein Chemie’s site in Jhagadia, Gujarat. Lanxess also manufactures polybutadiene rubber, butyl rubber and technical rubber products such as EPDM, HNBR, NBR and chloroprene rubber.
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India is clearly emerging as a global automotive hub. This growth will usher in new needs, new opportunities, and new challenges. We will need to develop technology-driven solutions for a more sustainable future,” said Dr Joerg Strassburger, Managing Director and Country Representative of Lanxess India, in his opening speech. Titled “High-tech Mobility and Emerging Trends”, the event focused on the potentials of India in terms of car production and consumption. Panel discussions also ensued to ponder on timely topics such as “The Future of Mobility in India”, “Innovation in Rubber for a Greener Tomorrow”, “Technological Trends in Automotive Rubber Components”, and “Driving Growth and Delivering Safety”.
Rapid expansion of the automotive sector in India r Rainier van Roessel, Member of the Board of Management of Lanxess, said in his keynote speech that in 12 years India has moved up to sixth place in the global vehicle market. Roessel also shared India’s Automotive Mission Plan, which says that by 2016, the automotive sector will account for more than 10% of India’s GDP and employ 25 million more people than it did in 2006.
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5 JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2013
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