Jointly develop Green Freight initiatives by SIAM and CAI Asia to in India

In a country where the road logistics continues to grow in a big way, fragmentation and the use of conventional internal combustion engines is becoming a major contributor to the country's carbon footprint in general. According to the data, a total of five million registered heavy trucks and vans consume about 46 percent of road transport fuel in India, and heavy trucks contribute about 63 percent of CO2 and 59 percent of particulate matter (PM) emissions from road vehicles India.

Indeed these are taken as disturbing numbers, and owing to our long-term dependence on these very vehicles for the movement of essential goods and services, Clean Air Initiative for Asian Cities (CAI‐Asia) and SIAM jointly organized a Green Freight Seminar in the heat of the 11th Auto Expo for achieving maximum mileage for the cause.

Declaring the sorry state of the fragmented heavy truck industry in the country, Parthaa Bose, CAI-Asia India Representative said, “The truck sector in India is highly fragmented with predominantly driver-owners and only 6 per cent of companies have more than 20 trucks.”

Also present was EPCA Chairman, Bhure Lal, who emphasized on the fact that vehicle manufacturers should invest in R&D technologies that improve fuel efficiency and reduce emissions. Kirit Parikh, Chairman, IRADe highlighted the need for multimodal transportation and planned freight corridors that promote rail‐freight.

SIAM and CIA Asia agreed that they will collaborate with the Indian government and industry players to jointly develop Green Freight initiatives in India, a collaboration that will further lend a helping hand to existing initiatives like the “Bangkok 2020 Declaration: Sustainable Transport Goals 2010-2020” and the “Private Sector Declaration on Green Freight in Asia towards a Green Economy”, which all aim at achieving similar goals for the heavy truck industry.