Scania commitment towards cleaner public transport system in India

Scania Commercial Vehicles India Pvt Ltd, hosted a multi-stakeholder conference in New Delhi on sustainability, where Nitin Gadkari, Minister for Road Transport and Highways delivered the keynote address. At the conference, Scania unveiled an industry whitepaper on “Increasing the adoption of biofuels for vehicle use in India”. The whitepaper highlighted specific measures to help India create a sustainable transport system, secure energy independence, curb emissions dramatically and create new jobs. The whitepaper also outlined how India can transform its current account deficit to a surplus with this shift, while minimising damage to our environment.

A global pioneer in delivering sustainable transport solutions, Scania reiterated its support to the Indian Government’s vision of making sustainable transport solutions a reality. The company introduced India’s first biofuel run Green Bus in 2014 and is in active discussions with numerous state transport undertakings to deploy more such environment friendly buses across the country. Scania has witnessed sound business momentum in the Indian market and currently has 35pc market share in the premium commercial vehicles segment.

On the occasion, Scania also announced key changes to its management team to drive the company’s next growth phase. Anders Grundströmer, Managing Director, Scania India and Senior Vice President, Scania Group is moving back to the parent organisation after significantly growing the company’s Indian entity over the last three years. Stefan Palskog has joined as President, Scania India and Mikael Benje has joined as Managing Director of Business Unit, Scania India.

Speaking on the occasion, Anders Grundströmer said, “In order to make sustainable transport solutions a reality, it’s important for India to recognise the huge potential of biofuels and quickly design the right ecosystem. A multi-stakeholder approach is critical to fast track this vision. There is a need to set long-term targets and incentives for renewable fuels like ethanol, biogas and bio-diesel in the transport sector if an efficient introduction of bio-fuels is to be achieved."

The pollution levels in India are on the rise every year across cities and the ill effects of pollution triggered by BS III and BS IV vehicles running on fossil fuels are alarming. Therefore, the Government’s decision to advance the timelines for BS VI emission norms is a good step in the right direction. Trucks and buses running on biofuels is another solution to reduce pollution.

Stefan Palskog said, “Scania has been the pioneer in manufacturing sustainable vehicles which offer the best Total Operating Economy (TOE), and vehicles with engines which run on biofuels such as biogas, bio-ethanol, and bio-diesel. Scania has one part of the solution. But to make India truly sustainable, there is a need for a collaborative framework that brings together the Government (policy makers, STUs) and the private sector (biofuel production, waste collection and processing, vehicle manufacturers, transport companies, amongst others).”

Scania vehicles are already compliant with Euro VI (equivalent of Bharat VI) norms, with all its vehicles having the capability to run on biofuels.

Mikael Benje said: “Scania has been synonymous with the idea of sustainability, driving the idea of ‘local waste to local fuel for local transport’. We recognise that biofuels are one of the most sustainable solutions to reduce harmful vehicular emissions and we will introduce more Green Buses across India this year to accelerate the pace of sustainable transportation in the country.”

Since its entry into the Indian market, Scania has achieved a number of significant milestones. Through emphasising TOE and truly sustainable, safe and comfortable transport solutions Scania constantly delivered through its offerings. Scania is an active proponent of ‘Swach Bharat’, ‘Smart Cities’ and ‘Make in India’. The company is looking at doubling its current production capacity to be able to produce 2500 buses and 5000 trucks per year over the next five years, while augmenting its employee base to 1200.

Source: Scania Commercial Vehicles India Pvt Ltd