SAEINDIA is organizing the 4th Edition of iTEC India 2021 in collaboration with IEEE IAS USA. The event has been growing in size and stature over the years and is eagerly awaited by all key stakeholders of the EV community. This physical event will be held on 16th to 18th December 2021 at Manesar, Gurugram, Haryana.
This meet assumes great significance because Indian Automotive market will grow rapidly and is slated to become the 3rd largest in the world by 2030. The event is expected to be attended by delegates from over 16 countries.
Addressing the media virtually Mrs. Rashmi Urdhwareshe (Former Director, ARAI) and President, SAEINDIA, highlighted the importance and need for this international meet where experts from around the world will participate. Incidentally, SAEINDIA would also be commencing the Silver Jubilee celebrations this year, culminating in a Grand Finale event in November 2022. She added that SAEINDIA is well known in the engineering community as the ultimate destination for knowledge dissemination and skill enrichment for engineering professionals in India. This meet will enhance the skills of all participants.
Mr. C.V. Raman, CTO – MSIL and Patron of the event, said that with support from the Government of India and other policy makers, massive work has to be done in building the supporting infrastructure and ecosystem for faster adoption of electric vehicles. Some of the important priorities and policy interventions will be discussed during the 3-day conference, and experts from India, the USA, France, and Germany will share its experiences to find pragmatic solutions to the challenges that lie ahead. He said the key question about raw material imports of lithium and cobalt needs to be addressed for long-term self-reliance and sustainable development of electric mobility in India. He further added that we must also look at alternative options to fossil fuels, like Green Hydrogen, Solar Energy, Fuel Cells, etc.
Mr. Dinesh Tyagi, Chair – Steering Committee of iTEC India 2021, emphasized the importance of the theme of the conference, reflecting the 7C’s propounded by the Honourable Prime Minister of India to accelerate self-reliance as we move towards achieving the goal of an ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’. It is a daunting task to build the huge supporting infrastructure in the form of charging stations, swappable batteries as well as a reduction in the weight of the batteries. This is required to ensure a smooth transition to Electric Vehicles across segments, including public transportation like electric buses and trucks. He added that the recent example of Indian Auto industry leapfrogging from BS-4 to BS-6 within a short period has demonstrated the capabilities of Indian OEM’s to achieve seemingly impossible targets in a short time span.
Dr. Tapan Sahoo, Chair – Organizing Committee of iTEC India 2021, gave an overview of the 4th Edition of iTEC India 2021. The conference will have 5-Plenary sessions and 4-parallel technical sessions with 100+ technical papers on 8-topics related to ‘Transportation Electrification’. Technical experts from India and abroad will deliberate on issues related to ‘Sustainable Mobility’ in India with a focus on ‘Start-up Innovation’ for faster adoption of electric mobility. Dr. Sahoo added the Government of India has rolled out a PLI Scheme – “National Program on Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) Battery Storage (NPACC)”. An outlay of INR 18,100 Crore (US$ 2.49 Billion), has been earmarked by the government towards this scheme, which is intended to establish a local manufacturing capacity of 50 Gigawatt Hour (GWh) of ACC. He added that the Indian Automobile market from being the 5th largest today is all set to become the 3rd largest by the end of this decade.
After the press briefing, the dignitaries answered questions from the media, the excerpts of which are as follows:
Q1: For President (SAEINDIA) – As you mentioned in your speech, SAEINDIA is celebrating 25 years this year. What have been the main contributions so far and how does SAEINDIA plan to take things forward in next 25 years?
Answer: Since inception, SAEINDIA has touched the lives of about 1 million plus Students and 100 thousand professionals in the mobility fraternity. SAEINDIA is a professional non-profit society carrying out several activities including Student competitions (like BAJA, Efficycle), various Professional Development Programs and Conferences. It covers automotive, aerospace and off-highway related aspects. Objective of these programs are to bring awareness, promote innovation and develop a creative spirit among the masses.
Next 25 years, focus of SAEINDIA is going to be a partner in progress for development of the mobility fraternity. SAEINDIA would like to contribute more and more on development of technical standards and provide a forum for deliberation on multiple options and challenges that the industry faces and possible way forward for mobility industry.
Q2. (for Patron) Recently, Hon’ble PM of India announced about India’s commitment at COP 26. What’s your view on the same?
Answer: As you are all aware, Hon’ble PM talked about the five commitments “Panchamrit” at COP26 summit.
- India will take its non-fossil energy capacity to 500 GW by 2030. [COP22, Paris: 450 GW]
- India will meet 50 per cent of its energy requirements from renewable energy by 2030.
- India will reduce the total projected carbon emissions by one billion tonnes from now till 2030.
- By 2030, India will reduce the carbon intensity of its economy by less than 45 per cent. [COP22, Paris: 33~35% from 2005 levels]
- By the year 2070, India will achieve the target of Net Zero.
Over-all India situation & Efforts:
o India represents 17% of the global population; its historical cumulative emissions are only 4% (1870~2019), while current annual GHG emissions are only about 5%.
o Though India is 3rd largest emitter with 2.88 Giga tonne CO2, but it is not at all comparable to highest polluter China with 10.6 Giga tonne & second highest emitter USA with 5 Giga tonne CO2.
o To ease life of crores of people & lifting them out of poverty, India has huge need to grow economy & energy for requirement of population/citizens.
As a country, we need to align the actions in line with the National goals and work in this direction. Talking specifically about mobility sector, India will adopt multiple set of energy options like Natural Gas, Electric mobility with Renewables, Bio fuels and Green Hydrogen.
Q3 (For OC Chair): What is the focus of this conference and how many Papers are being presented at iTEC India 2021?
Answer: The 4th Edition theme will be: e-Mobility for AatmaNirbhar Bharat.
Main Topics Covered in technical tracks:
- Power Electronics, Electric Machines and Actuators
- Electric and Hybrid Electric Vehicle Architecture
- Energy Storage, Fuel Cells, Battery and Battery Management
- Electrification in goods transport vehicles (HCV’s, Sea, and vertical)
- Ecosystem Enablers: Intelligent Mobility Solutions, Infrastructure, Smart Grids, V2G & Smart cities
- Standards, Regulations & Policies for holistic Carbon approach & Recycling
- Modelling, Simulation, and Control
- Consumer Aspect and Research
Total abstracts received were 226. Each abstract was reviewed by minimum 3 reviewers drawn from a list of 200+ reviewers based on their expertise on the subject of the abstract. Based on the review 126 papers are being published at the conference.
Q4 (Fr IEEE): Can you explain a bit about IEEE-IAS and when was iTEC Started?
Answer: IEEE-IAS is one of the largest special interest societies within the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the IAS focuses specifically on the unique needs of industry and commerce. IAS is a source of professional power to its nearly 14,000 worldwide members. Through a network of over 370 chapters globally, regional events and national and international conferences, the society keeps members abreast of current developments in the area of technology in electricity and electronics. IAS enriches both its individual members and the industry as a whole through the sharing of specific industry-related solutions. In India iTEC was started in 2015. Globally ITEC’12: June 18-20, 2012, Dearborn, MI, USA
Q5: How can ITEC 2021 support in this mission?
Answer: ITEC 2021 brings together technocrats, mobility engineers and policy makers to discuss and debate the optimum e-mobility strategies for the country. As the technology keeps changing, this biennial technical conference helps India to bring the latest mobility technologies related to e-mobility. This time also, we expect to have an excellent participation from all stakeholders and we seek your support to spread the word to make it a great success.
Q6: Can you explain the hybrid mode of event delivery?
Answer: This event delivery format will be fully hybrid. All sessions will be available in-person and also virtual. Speakers, Delegates & Exhibitors all will be able to join both in-person and virtual. The event is being delivered in a customized event platform specifically designed for this event.