Tag: news

Addressing Road Safety Challenges in India

On the eve of the day when 2 souls had to leave this world by the way of road accidents in Pune. While this is almost a daily incident now a days in almost all major cities. While our (so called) Undying Spirits push us to move forward in lives, thinking this won’t happen to me. But today my mind delved into the problem and possible solutions to this.

I am sure nothing new might come up than what we all already know. But I would attempt to push the envelope one more time.

  1. We need to value LIFE.

I feel in India we are doing miserably on this point. Lives lost on road / terror attack / Game celebrations / factory and we feel it for minutes and then we move on, like it never happened or will never happen again. And then it happens again after a few weeks. May be this is because we are second most populous country of the world. This has numbed us towards the human life. We need to value human lives more.

If this thought is not nurtured, we will never design our roads / safety / systems & processes to not harm or to save human lives.

  1. We need stronger permanent solutions not stop gap arrangements.

Now a days there is a trend for quick fix for all most all problems and we all take it as solution. It’s like a solution in guise of a temporary action. Like it’s fashion now a days of building speed breakers whenever accidents happen. Fire someone or ask for resignations. Announce a compensation or job offer or some other tangible handout. Everyone feels good that action happened and no one actually goes to understand whether it is a pattern or one of incidence.

As far as on road safety is concerned, I have been proponent of banning 3-wheelers for years now. I love their usability & affordability and I have nothing against them. But the same advantage manoeuvrability is now becoming a menace. Same with 2 Wheelers. But you may argue that this will be a big pain for many people – yes that’s correct. But desperate times need desperate measures. We need some very serious changes on Road related issues.

And that is exactly why I propose a strong public transport and good roads. If government provides efficient public transport and good condition roads no one would want to drive 2 wheelers. A public – private partnership should be explored in this and with a cap on charges.

e.g: I was surprised to read that Tokyo had same territorial area as Bangalore. Population of Tokyo is 3X that or Bangalore. Looking at current situation in Bangalore – in Tokyo no one should be able to live, yet it thrives. Tokyo has one of the worlds best Metros. Metros there make approx. 3~4 crore trips / day while Namma Metro is tuck at around 6~6.5 Lac trips / day.

  1. Civic sense.

Not all fingers point towards others. We as people also need to slow down a bit. Access where are we going so hurriedly? Why so much road rage? What do we do by saving those 5 minutes and risking lives on road? Is that phone call so important to twist your neck and talk on road? I guess it’s in fact quite ridiculous the way we behave. For this we need stricter license rules. Higher penalties. Stronger laws. Again, a very unpopular step but we need to understand and inculcate that Driving is a Privilege not Right. But before this there needs to be accountability. For road conditions / for better transport / for better infrastructure. Administration and people both have to play there part or else we keep losing precious lives for most stupid reasons.

Last but not least.

  1. We need our startups to find real world solutions rather than food delivery apps.

Food delivery startups sure have generated quite some employment. But they also have increased traffic and also put the anxiety on commuters due to lower delivery times. No one is dying if grocery does not get delivered in less than 10 mins.

Why no startup is working to make an integrated grid using AI and cameras / drones to find traffic bottlenecks / accident prone areas / areas where maximum traffic violation happens and redesign roads so people need not break the rules.

Why are they not working on solution on better routes / better public transport / better locations for bridges etc to predict and prevent jams.

If we as a society remain fully driven by money and not actual issues troubling us, we can never move from developing to a developed economy.

I feel developed economy is not just GDP or Per Capita, it’s a mindset.

It’s a state of harmony between commercial, social and personal wellbeing.

To sum up the article, I feel we need to awake to the fact that roads are increasingly becoming dangerous due to our own bad civic sense, no regard to rules and regulations and unwanted rush along with administrations lethargy to address issues with permanent solutions instead of quick fix, no inclination to enhancing public transport or diligent focus on creating and maintaining good infrastructure. The need of the hour is to accept our mistakes and embrace the tough decisions for our and future generations benefits.

In case you feel to add any points or any solutions, please feel free to share the same in comments box.

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India vs China: The Startup Ecosystem Debate

Currently there is a roaring debate on startup ecosystem of India Vs China. This photo was already doing rounds in social media but what added the fuel to the fire is our commerce minister discussing this in the Startup Mahakumbh. He took a deep dig on our startups and mentioned that what we are doing is “entrepreneurship” and “not startup”.

Please click on the image to view the video

There has been divided response on the social media, while some suggest that at least some one has accepted the dire situation and raised a concern there are others who point out that government needs to pitch in for the success of their deep tech startups.

One of the founders of a semiconductor startup took to reddit platform responding to Mr. Goyals remarks as follows:

“We are a semiconductor startup. Started in 2018. Stopped wasting our time trying to get Indian clients—private sector, government or defense,” he wrote. He described the procurement process as discouraging and non-committal, citing repeated instances where officials responded to proposals with statements like: “You build it, then we’ll decide,” or “We won’t buy—go find whether there is a market for this.”

Semiconductor founder hits back at Piyush Goyal’s ‘ice cream or chips’ remark

The point he made was who would fund these deep tech research without the visibility of returns from the same? Who would invest the time and energy in something which might or might not click? In any business the most important part is visibility of returns, path to success.

Another perspective to counter the Commerce Minister

We all understand that world we knew is fast perishing and there is a paradigm shift awaiting at the horizon. New Leaders will be those who wield the Technology. In current scenario it seems that China has left whole world behind. Whether it is Automotives (dominated by Europeans) or Aerospace & Defence (dominated by US) or manufacturing (dominated by Japan) or any other field. While there is merit to both these arguments what’s important is to find a way to tread this path.

From Startups perspective: following points are important and need intervention.

  1. What support can governments (state and central) offer to startups. We need a proper plan and execution for the same.
  2. India has a done a commendable job jumping from 142 (in 2014) to 63 (in 2020) but what ahead of that. New businesses still struggle with basic support and regulatory hurdles.
  3. Deep Tech surely will need significant initial capital and the product lifecycle will be longer. This is where they expect a handholding. There has to be a funding charter for these Deep Tech. Clear identification of areas, clearly defined economic zones, strategies, etc.
  4. Post the product readiness what is important is market acceptance. There is a need of governments adopting the newer tech products in their ecosystem to boost this initial resistance.

From Governments Perspective: following points are important and need resolution.

  1. While we can always point fingers what’s also important is inclination of the industry towards R&D. If we take even the biggest of the Organizations in India, the focus on R&D has been abysmal. India R&D expenditure is roughly 1/10th that of China or US. On GDP scale its just 0.65% while in US and China its well above 2~3% (on there scale of GDP) even a small country like Israel does @ 5% of GDP. Majority of this comes from Public Sector. Private sector lags completely in this. In US and China private sector does the major weightlifting.
  2. We have a very strong domestic markets for Automotive, Clothes, Electronics, mobile phones. Name any private sector company who built a world class product in India in last several years. Even the 2-Wheeler companies that boast of exports do so in third world countries. There is no aspiration to become a globally renowned product. The focus of Indian corporates has been returns & this needs to change.
  3. Look at the Indian IT sector. For last 2 / 3 decades we are happy being the service providers (cheap labour) to the world. why have so called IT giants never tried to build a product? What are the R&D budgets of these mammoth companies? And if they will not invest in R&D who will and who should?
  4. Now when we look at the pharma industry that is an appreciable picture. They spend significant amounts in R&D. Do pain stacking research for years and as a fruit, they hold almost 40% of the US generic medicine market. Other industries need to take a lesson from these companies.

To conclude, I suppose both the Industry and Governments have to work closely, hand-in-hand to change this scenario for the greater good. Industry needs to be braver and more adventurous while governments need to support this adventure and ensure they have a strong ground for this.

These are a few pointers that I could think of, but I would surely love to hear your perspective on this topic. So please do contribute your views in the comments below.

The Future of EVs: Trends and Insights for 2025

Though many have already written the Obituary of the EV era. Come 2025 and things are looking exciting in this space. I would like to bring your attention to these facts which are actually pointing otherwise.

  1. All OEM’s (even the laggards) have started becoming active in the EV Space. E.g.: Bajaj, M&M, Honda, etc.
  2. While I was traveling on few highways in Maharashtra, I saw public charging stations almost at every 120~150 Kms.
  3. Recent vehicles are getting launched at higher battery ranges and quicker charging times.
  4. Prices of Vehicles are coming to closer parity of the ICE (internal combustion engine) competitors. E.g: Honda launched ACTIVA near 1 Lac / M&M new EV’s launched near SUVs like Creta / Seltos / XUV / Harrier.

When we scratch the surface and dig deeper. We understand that on the surface it looks calm and silent but beneath the water is flowing fast and rigorously.

 It would not be prudent to assume that we might not have an EV future. EV is the Future, and if not, how will you explain the following:

  1. Conservative OEMs like Bajaj and Honda – who have always criticized the EV Vehicles are coming up with strong offerings. If there is no future, why are they even investing into development of the same.

“Most of the new EV brands have come to us to sell themselves” says Bajaj Auto’s Rakesh Sharma. Rakesh Sharma, Executive Director, Bajaj Auto, talks to Autocar Professional.

So, they are seeing a consolidation kicking in and consolidation also marks pricing power.

2. You would be seeing charging stations popping out in your neighborhood / enroute. Who do you think is investing in putting up the charging stations? Would there be so many amateur businesses people? Who would invest throughout the land where we know that there is no opportunity? If they are putting their hard-earned money. They surely know better and more so when you see multiple people across the geography doing the same. 

Click on the links below for more information.

India saw 9X increase in charging stations in last 2 years.

EV Charging stations – Maharashtra.

3. All recent launches whether it was M&M / TATA etc. are committing to 400~500 + Kms Range on a full charge and this is a significant range. Almost all major cars in India have tanks that could just do the same. So, the Range Anxiety issue one parameter is taken care of the Range. The second is ease of availability and time to recharge in comparison with fossil fuel. For this point 2 is already in process. To add to this OEMs are also coming up with innovative solutions like Battery Swapping and Fast Charging. M&M has claimed that their new vehicles can be charged from 20~80% in less than 20 Mins with a 140W charger. So, I see that its not far off. This range anxiety issue will also be the devil in the past.

4. Another hurdle we all thought was higher prices compared the conventional competitors. With the MG-JSW launching a BAAS (Battery as a Service) Model. Where you do not pay upfront for the battery but as per your usage. This will also bring battery prices going down significantly. A report from Goldman Sachs says battery prices can fall by 50% by 2026. This could just make an EV car cheaper than ICE Cars. ICE cars might fail to challenge the rise of EV adoption.

Earlier the customers had quite a limited choice. But now you have a plethora of options from Tata, New kid on the block M&M has some stunning cars, MG-JSW plan to launch 5 New cars in 2025. Maruti showcased its EVitara (Brezza based EV), Hyundai is showcased Creta in Bharat Mobility. Hyundai also planning to launch Inster (based on Exter platform). Honda has announced an EV Vehicle next year, VW – M&M JV could push VW to launch some EV Models.

25 ~26 New cars were launched or showcased in Bharat Mobility.

All in all to summarize, the times are going to be exciting in 2025~26. I would suggest do not be in a hurry to write down the EV’s just about yet. Give it some rope and we might just be amazed.

What are your views? I would love to hear from you – so just drop your comments or questions in comments box below.

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