Indo-German Technical Cooperation in the Automotive Sector: Experts discuss successes and opportunities
India
More than 35 experts and representatives from government, industry and technical institutions came together in New Delhi for an exchange on technical cooperation in the automotive sector on 17th October. Homologation, regulations and standards of intelligent transportation systems and charging infrastructure for electric vehicles as well as future cooperation topics for the Indo-German Working Group on Quality Infrastructure were discussed.
Ralf Diemer from the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) emphasised the strong and longstanding cooperation between India and Germany in the automotive sector. He highlighted two recent successes through the cooperation within the Indo-German Working Group on Quality Infrastructure. Since last year, it is possible to import vehicles of up to 2,500 units to India without repeated testing. This relaxation of homologation procedures especially eases the introduction of electric cars and further innovative technologies, Diemer said. Thanks to the activities of the project and the close collaboration with the Charging Interface Initiative (CharIN), a major step for establishing the global Charging System CCS for electric vehicles in India has been reached.
India’s transport industry is currently undergoing a transformative shift with various aspects such as new technologies, road and transport safety and scrapping of end of life vehicles playing an increasing role, Dr Piyush Jain from the Indian Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) explained. The Indian parliament has recently passed amendments to the Motor Vehicles Act 1988, including higher penalties for traffic violations, new regulations for the recall of defective vehicle parts and the set-up of a National Road Safety Board. The government is now working on formulating the rules of these amendments for topics such as scrapping. Learning from best practices of countries like Germany and inputs from forums such as today’s event are thereby very important and helpful, Dr Jain underlined.
With the 7th Annual Meeting of the Indo-German Working Group on Quality Infrastructure approaching in January 2020, an interactive discussion on possible new topics of cooperation in the automotive sector also took place. Participants of the event proposed to deepen the cooperation on regulations and standards for scrapping of vehicles and safety aspects as well as on regulatory frameworks for connected vehicles.
To deepen the harmonisation of Indian Standards with UN Vehicle Regulations, Marius Ochel from VDA proposed a new collaboration between VDA and the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) within the framework of the Working Group on Quality Infrastructure, focusing on simplifying the process of type approval.
To deepen the harmonisation of Indian Standards with UN Vehicle Regulations, Marius Ochel from VDA proposed a new collaboration between VDA and the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) within the framework of the Working Group on Quality Infrastructure, focusing on simplifying the process of type approval.
The event was organised by GIZ – the German Agency for International Cooperation – under the framework of the Indo-German Working Group on Quality Infrastructure in cooperation with the German Embassy in New Delhi, VDA and CharIN.
India and Germany cooperate within the Indo-German Working Group on Quality Infrastructure, between the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) and the Indian Ministry for Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution. The Working Group has the goal to reduce technical barriers to trade and strengthen product safety and enhance consumer protection. As part of the Global Project Quality Infrastructure (GPQI), GIZ has been commissioned by BMWi to support the Working Group in India.
India and Germany cooperate within the Indo-German Working Group on Quality Infrastructure, between the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) and the Indian Ministry for Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution. The Working Group has the goal to reduce technical barriers to trade and strengthen product safety and enhance consumer protection. As part of the Global Project Quality Infrastructure (GPQI), GIZ has been commissioned by BMWi to support the Working Group in India.