Nobel Series Seminar 2022, organized by VECommercial Vehicles under the Patronage of the Embassy of Sweden in India, laysthe vision for a sustainable, safe, and dependable public transport for India’sAmrit Kaal.
VE Commercial Vehicles, a Joint Venture betweenSweden’s Volvo Group and India’s Eicher Motors, successfully organised theNobel Series Seminar 2022 under the patronage of Sweden’s Ambassador to Indiain Delhi. Since its inception in 2009, the Nobel Series Seminar has sought toprovide an inclusive platform for public transport stakeholders to deliberateand arrive at measurable outcomes to drive sustainable and scalable publictransport.
The latest edition was themed – PublicTransport: Passenger Transport during Amrit Kaal – in keeping with thegovernment’s ambitious vision to improve the quality of life of all Indians byboosting digital and physical connectivity.
In his inaugural address, His Excellency JanThesleff, Ambassador of Sweden to India stated, “Transport is an integral partof a comprehensive Indo-Sweden partnership that kicked off in 2018.Sustainability is in the Swedish DNA. Blend the blue and yellow colours of theSwedish flag and you have green!”
PanelDiscussion
Akash Passey, President – Bus Division ande-mobility, VE Commercial Vehicles hosted a panel discussion around the themeof the event. Participants included, Ashish Kundra, IAS, Principal Secretary-cum-Commissioner(Transport), Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi, MahuaAcharya, MD, and CEO, Convergence Energy Solutions Limited, PrasannaPathwardhan, Chairperson and Managing Director, Prasanna Group of Companies andPresident Bus and Car Operators Confederation of India, Dr. SK Lohia, SeniorAdvisor, World Bank, and Rupa Nandy, Head – UITP India.
At the heart of the deliberations, were threethemes:
(a) How can we scale up bus-based publictransport?
(b) How do we foster seamless multimodality?
(c) How can the e-mobility push be madebroad-based and sustainable?
“Bus-based public transport has no single nodalauthority unlike the railways. We need a central mobility fund that covers allmodes of transport under an integrated multimodal management authority,”asserted Pathwardhan.
“In scaling up the bus-based public transportsector, it is important that lessons are imbibed from the railways which haveproper systems of improving rolling stock specifications, training, resourceallocation, and development of non-farebox revenues,” added Dr. Lohia.
As the discussion steered towards e-mobilityAcharya stated, “At CESL, we will continue to put out large and well-structuredtenders. Given the scale, we recognise that, currently, OEMs must participatein fleet operational management as well. However, private operators should alsofind it easier to participate once the financing question is resolved. We areworking with various stakeholder Ministries to develop such a mechanism.”
With its global presence, UITP engages withglobal private operators. “They all understand that India is a large volumemarket. They will also be keen to participate here once the issue of paymentsecurity and ease of doing business is addressed,” observed Rupa Nandy.
As for Delhi, it has the paradox of being thelargest operator of multimodal public transport systems while also having thelargest personal vehicle population. Kundra opined, “Delhi is a success storywhen it comes to public private partnerships for public transport and greenmobility. The future lies in reforms of the public transport sector andunbundling of regulations and operations will help drive scale andefficiencies.”
The seminar saw an active engagement of thepanellists with the vibrant audience comprising fleet operators, transportexperts, and the media.