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Interpreting India - Amit Bhatt on Effective Ways to Achieve Cleaner Transportation
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Amit Bhatt on Effective Ways to Achieve Cleaner Transportation

11/09/23 • 38 min

Interpreting India

With the onset of winter, severe levels of air pollution have reemerged as a concern in North India. Various factors have been put forth to explain this malaise: stubble burning in farms, vehicular pollution, and pollution due to the construction sector. But even outside of the winter months, the National Capital Region maintains poor air quality, with an AQI of over 200. Can clean transportation help?

To speak of clean transportation, which is key to addressing the issue of vehicular pollution, we must first speak of electric passenger and commercial vehicles, low-emission zones, and so on. Each option comes with its own set of challenges. Electric vehicle uptake is low in India and hovers at around 2 percent owing to relatively higher prices, range anxiety, lengthy charging times, a lack of standardized charging points, and a lack of charging infrastructure. However, there are concerted efforts to promote electric vehicles and alternative forms of cleaner transportation in India. The auto PLI scheme and Delhi’s electric vehicle (EV) policy provide incentives that can potentially spur the uptake of electric vehicles. Delhi’s EV policy also addresses the issue of scarce charging infrastructure. This appears to have had results since Delhi’s electric vehicle sales rose to 9 percent in the September–November quarter of 2021 from around 1 percent in 2019–2020. Nor is price as much of a deterrent as it may initially appear, since initial high costs may be offset by long-term gains from heavy usage, such as low fuel and running and maintenance costs.

In this episode of Interpreting India, Amit Bhatt joins Sayoudh Roy to discuss these key questions around clean transportation.

Episode Contributors

Amit Bhatt is the India managing director at the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT). He is based in New Delhi and has over twenty years of experience in transportation, urban development, and management. Before joining ICCT, Amit was executive director for integrated transport at WRI India for twelve years. Prior to this, he worked with the Urban Mass Transit Company, India’s leading urban transport consultancy, and with infrastructure leasing and financial services.

Sayoudh Roy is a senior research analyst with the Political Economy Program at Carnegie India. His work focuses on the macroeconomic implications of frictions in labor and financial markets and how interactions between them can affect macroeconomic aggregates.

Additional Readings

India's Path to Clean Transport is Electric, Strong Central Policies on Zero-Emission Vehicles by Amit Bhatt and Harsimran Kaur

Where Are India's Electric Trucks? by Amit Bhatt and Aviral Yadav

Battery Swapping for Electric Two-Wheelers in India: Strategy Hinterlands, by Pramoda Gode, Sumati Kohli, and Jennifer Callahan

How Delhi Is Becoming a Lighthouse City for Electric Mobility in India by Amit Bhatt

Improving Air Quality in Cities Through Transport-Focused Low- and Zero-Emission Zones: Legal Pathways and Opportunities for India by Anuj Dhole, Sandra Wappelhorst, and Amit Bhatt

Every two weeks, Interpreting India brings you diverse voices from India and around the world to explore the critical questions shaping the nation's future. We delve into how technology, the economy, and foreign policy intertwine to influence India's relationship with the global stage.

As a Carnegie India production, hosted by Carnegie scholars, Interpreting India, a Carnegie India production, provides insightful perspectives and cutting-edge by tackling the defining questions that chart India's course through the next decade.

Stay tuned for thought-provoking discussions, expert insi...

plus icon
bookmark

With the onset of winter, severe levels of air pollution have reemerged as a concern in North India. Various factors have been put forth to explain this malaise: stubble burning in farms, vehicular pollution, and pollution due to the construction sector. But even outside of the winter months, the National Capital Region maintains poor air quality, with an AQI of over 200. Can clean transportation help?

To speak of clean transportation, which is key to addressing the issue of vehicular pollution, we must first speak of electric passenger and commercial vehicles, low-emission zones, and so on. Each option comes with its own set of challenges. Electric vehicle uptake is low in India and hovers at around 2 percent owing to relatively higher prices, range anxiety, lengthy charging times, a lack of standardized charging points, and a lack of charging infrastructure. However, there are concerted efforts to promote electric vehicles and alternative forms of cleaner transportation in India. The auto PLI scheme and Delhi’s electric vehicle (EV) policy provide incentives that can potentially spur the uptake of electric vehicles. Delhi’s EV policy also addresses the issue of scarce charging infrastructure. This appears to have had results since Delhi’s electric vehicle sales rose to 9 percent in the September–November quarter of 2021 from around 1 percent in 2019–2020. Nor is price as much of a deterrent as it may initially appear, since initial high costs may be offset by long-term gains from heavy usage, such as low fuel and running and maintenance costs.

In this episode of Interpreting India, Amit Bhatt joins Sayoudh Roy to discuss these key questions around clean transportation.

Episode Contributors

Amit Bhatt is the India managing director at the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT). He is based in New Delhi and has over twenty years of experience in transportation, urban development, and management. Before joining ICCT, Amit was executive director for integrated transport at WRI India for twelve years. Prior to this, he worked with the Urban Mass Transit Company, India’s leading urban transport consultancy, and with infrastructure leasing and financial services.

Sayoudh Roy is a senior research analyst with the Political Economy Program at Carnegie India. His work focuses on the macroeconomic implications of frictions in labor and financial markets and how interactions between them can affect macroeconomic aggregates.

Additional Readings

India's Path to Clean Transport is Electric, Strong Central Policies on Zero-Emission Vehicles by Amit Bhatt and Harsimran Kaur

Where Are India's Electric Trucks? by Amit Bhatt and Aviral Yadav

Battery Swapping for Electric Two-Wheelers in India: Strategy Hinterlands, by Pramoda Gode, Sumati Kohli, and Jennifer Callahan

How Delhi Is Becoming a Lighthouse City for Electric Mobility in India by Amit Bhatt

Improving Air Quality in Cities Through Transport-Focused Low- and Zero-Emission Zones: Legal Pathways and Opportunities for India by Anuj Dhole, Sandra Wappelhorst, and Amit Bhatt

Every two weeks, Interpreting India brings you diverse voices from India and around the world to explore the critical questions shaping the nation's future. We delve into how technology, the economy, and foreign policy intertwine to influence India's relationship with the global stage.

As a Carnegie India production, hosted by Carnegie scholars, Interpreting India, a Carnegie India production, provides insightful perspectives and cutting-edge by tackling the defining questions that chart India's course through the next decade.

Stay tuned for thought-provoking discussions, expert insi...

Previous Episode

undefined - D. Shyam Babu on Caste Census and the Politics of Social Justice in India

D. Shyam Babu on Caste Census and the Politics of Social Justice in India

The last publicly available nation-wide caste census in India was conducted in 1931. Now, a state-wide caste census has become available from the government of Bihar. Even though we know the Indian state collects data on a variety of markers and indicators, whether socioeconomic or health-related, there seems to be a reluctance when it comes to collecting data on caste.

What is the reason for this? What are the complexities involved in capturing caste in India? How should we think about the categorization and sub-categorization of caste? What will the politics of caste look like going forward? What are the ways in which a caste census can be conducted more efficiently? What are the different aspects of the politics of social justice in India? What have been the successes and failures of social justice in India?

In this episode of Interpreting India, D. Shyam Babu joins Suyash Rai to discuss these questions and more.

Episode Contributors

D. Shyam Babu is a senior fellow at the Centre for Policy Research. His current research interests include socioeconomic mobility among Dalits, liberalization and social justice, and the role of entrepreneurship in mobility. He has also collaborated with Devesh Kapur and Chandra Bhan Prasad to conduct socioeconomic surveys to map social change and its linkages with public policies and entrepreneurship among Dalits. Their 2014 co-authored book, Defying the Odds, has received critical acclaim.

Suyash Rai is a deputy director and fellow at Carnegie India. His research focuses on the political economy of economic reforms and the performance of public institutions in India. His current research looks at the financial sector, the fiscal system, and the infrastructure sector.

Additional Readings

Mandal’s Original Sin, Surveyed by D. Shyam Babu

Rethinking Inequality: Dalits in Uttar Pradesh in the Market Reform Era by Devesh Kapur, Chandra Bhan Prasad, Lant Pritchett, and D. Shyam Babu

Defying the Odds: The Rise of Dalit Entrepreneurs by Devesh Kapur, D. Shyam Babu, and Chandra Bhan Prasad

Reimagining Merit in India: Cognition and Affirmative Action by D. Shyam Babu, Chandra Bhan Prasad, and Devesh Kapur

Dalits in the New Millennium by Sudha Pai, D. Shyam Babu, and Rahul Verma

Key Moments

(00:00); Introduction

(01:47); Chapter 1: Why Was There Hesitance in Conducting Caste Census?

(10:43); Chapter 2: The Complexity of Caste and Its Relationship With the State

(15:45); Chapter 3: Potential Purposes of Caste Census

(20:49); Chapter 4: Scope of Improvement in Politics of Caste Census

(23:29); Chapter 5: Ways to Mitigate the Negative Consequences of Caste

(30:13); Chapter 6: Public System and Caste

(35:35); Chapter 7: Consequences and Limitations of Economy on Social System

(42:18); Chapter 8: Caste Issues and Public

(44:28); Chapter 9: The Making of Citizens: Social Identity and Community

(52:08); Chapter 10: Structural Incompetence of Caste on Social System

(54:16); Chapter 11: Cultural Determinism and Nationalism

(57:24); Chapter 12: Social Justice in Relation to Caste

(58:25); Chapter 13: Recommended Books

(59:10); Outro

---

From December 46, 2023, Carnegie India will convene the eighth Global Technology Summit, co-hosted with the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India. This year, we will discuss key technology policy issues concerning digital public infrastructure, artificial intelligence, critical and emerging technology, space, semiconductors, national security and technology, data protection, and more.

To register for the summit, visit gts2023.com. Make sure you follow our Twitte...

Next Episode

undefined - Izumi Nakamitsu on Exploring the Geopolitics of Technology: Insights into Military Applications of AI

Izumi Nakamitsu on Exploring the Geopolitics of Technology: Insights into Military Applications of AI

There are similarities between the UN’s efforts to pursue a disarmament strategy for nuclear weapons and the regulation of the military applications of AI. Given the multiple parallel initiatives on this issue, inputs would also have to be gathered from a range of stakeholders already working on the issue, such as the REAIM participants, the United States, and other countries, in order to regulate AI in the military domain. The private sector has a role here to drive governance on this topic as well, given that most of the technology emanates from their R&D efforts. Here, more regulation should not be seen as a roadblock to innovation; instead, it can accelerate it. This is because empirically-based regulations would allow the adoption of such AI systems to be faster. The lack of any such regulation could even lead to undesirable outcomes, which may hamper the growth of the industry.

In this episode of Interpreting India, Izumi Nakamitsu joins Konark Bhandari to discuss the military applications of AI.

EPISODE CONTRIBUTORS

Izumi Nakamitsu assumed her position as under-secretary-general and high representative for disarmament affairs on May 1, 2017. Prior to taking on this post, she served as assistant administrator of the Crisis Response Unit at the United Nations Development Programme since 2014. She has many years of experience within and outside the UN system, most recently as special adviser ad interim on follow-up to the Summit on Addressing Large Movements of Refugees and Migrants between 2016 and 2017. She was previously director of the Asia and the Middle East Division of the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations between 2012 and 2014 and director of the Department’s Division of Policy, Evaluation and Training from 2008 to 2012. She holds a Master of Science degree in foreign service from Georgetown University in Washington, DC, and a Bachelor of Law degree from Waseda University, Tokyo.

Konark Bhandari is a fellow with Carnegie India. He is a lawyer who has researched certain areas in the digital economy, focusing primarily on approaches to antitrust regulation of companies in the digital realm. He had earlier worked at India’s antitrust regulator, the Competition Commission of India (CCI), where he worked closely with senior officials on a variety of matters. He is also an avid follower of the regulation of the space technology ecosystem and is keen to contribute to that discipline.

While at the CCI, he was a member of the Internal Coordination Committee on the Think Tank on Digital Markets. Konark was also attached to the office of the chairperson of CCI, where his duties involved providing a briefing on live cases as well as speechwriting responsibilities.

Konark has published papers in the areas of antitrust, intellectual property, and corporate law.

Every two weeks, Interpreting India brings you diverse voices from India and around the world to explore the critical questions shaping the nation's future. We delve into how technology, the economy, and foreign policy intertwine to influence India's relationship with the global stage.

As a Carnegie India production, hosted by Carnegie scholars, Interpreting India, a Carnegie India production, provides insightful perspectives and cutting-edge by tackling the defining questions that chart India's course through the next decade.

Stay tuned for thought-provoking discussions, expert insights, and a deeper understanding of India's place in the world.

Don't forget to subscribe, share, and leave a review to join the conversation and be part of Interpreting India's journey.

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