iTEC India 2019 centres around eMobility solutions for India and related growth verticals

The theme for iTEC India 2019 was ‘eMobility Solution for Community’ and focused on providing newer solutions and creating better ecosystem and helping the automotive industry to understand the transition from ICE vehicles to EVs. The third edition of this 3-day event in Bangalore focused on a variety of top trending issues including electric vehicles, battery, recycling, charging infrastructure and more. The event saw over 150 technical sessions and 700 delegates every day.

iTEC India 2019 was organised collectively by SAEIndia and IEEE IAS in association with knowledge partner ARAI. Speaking at the inauguration, Dr Bala Bharadvaj, Managing Director, Boeing India Engineering & Technology Centre and President SAEIndia, said, “Complexities gives us the opportunity to innovate. From that perspective, this event gives the opportunity to discuss the complexities and address the challenges in the eMobility landscape. Such events will help us in accelerating the awareness of the technology, developing it and deploying it. The term ‘eMobility’ that we know, also needs to be changed and we need to move towards ‘WeMobility’,”

Dr Guenter Fraidl, Senior VP, Powertrain Systems, AVL Graz spoke on the trends and challenges in electric vehicle market in India as well as globe. Prashanth Doreswamy, Managing Director, Continental Automotive, India, spoke on industry’s perspective and how they see the future of mobility.  

Speaking about Karnataka’s role in emobility, Dr Veeranna SH, Managing Director, Karnataka Trade Promotion Organisation, said, “The iTEC event will serve as a crucial platform for growth and adoption of EV, and provide strategic inputs in battery technology, infrastructure etc. Bengaluru is the largest EV market in the country and has a thriving ecosystem with many major players like Mahindra and Ather. Under FAME-2, the State of Karnataka will get 400 e-buses of which 300 buses will be leased by BMTC. We have a plan to develop an electric vehicle cluster in the State and four technical committee was also formed for the same. “

The inauguration session also featured Dr David Schutt, CEO, SAEInternational US, Georges Zissis, President, IEEE IAS US, Venkataraj K, Deputy Director, SAEIndia, Rashmi Urdhwareshe, Director ARAI and Girish Ramaswamy, Head of Engineering - Engine & Drivetrain Systems, Vitesco Technologies.

Mahesh Babu, CEO, Mahindra Electric capped off the event by speaking about how EV sector growth in India lies in the 2-wheeler and 3-wheeler segments, with nearly 1.2 million market penetration, are key verticals for last-mile connectivity in India.