Approach for CO ₂ Reduction in India’s Automotive Sector

India has gone through a lot of transformation over the last decade. Today it is the 6^th largest and one of the fastest growing economies in the world. Rising income level, increased consumerism, rapid growth in urbanization and digitization have attributed to this change. Government focus on “Make in India” for promoting trade and investment in India have ensured that India emerge as one of the largest growing economies in the world. The automotive industry played a pivotal role in the manufacturing sector to boost economic activities in India. The passenger car market has increased 3 times over the last decade and it has led to increased mobility options for many people across India. However, this has put concerns on the country’s energy security and emission levels. According to IEA’s recent report on global CO₂ emission, 32.31 Gt of CO₂ emissions were from fuel combustion in 2016, out of which transport sector contributed ~25%. India contributed ~11% of transport emissions in Asia in 2016. This necessitates systematic approach and action plans to curb India’s vehicular CO₂ emissions. In line with this, Government of India has already implemented different regulations, policies (e.g. CAFÉ, BSVI) and has also notified future action plans (e.g. RDE, electrification, etc.). Globally, CAFÉ norms have been adopted by many countries (e.g. USA, EU, South Korea, etc.) to reduce their carbon footprint by reducing CO₂ emissions and petroleum consumption. Its implementation has accelerated since 2010 and globally governments are imposing stricter targets. India on the other hand has its own unique challenges like large population (1.3 Bn.), high cost sensitivity, unorganized urbanization and average lower income. India need its own unique sustainable and affordable mobility approach (CNG, HEVs, EVs, Biofuels, etc.) and at the same time strike a balance between automotive industry growth, environmental impacts and employment opportunities to address these concerns. This paper aims to provide systematic approach for CO₂ emission reduction in the automotive sector.