SIAM, ACMA with Indian government to host conference on IMDS and ELV regulations

The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) under the aegis of the ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change (MoEF&CC) and in association with Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA) will organise the ‘International Material Data Systems (IMDS) and End of Life (ELV) Regulations’ on March 18, 2019 in New Delhi.

The industry body says that this is the first-of-its-kind conference that will focus on sustainable material management and environmentally safe disposal and tracking of hazardous chemical, heavy metals and Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPS) among others, to minimise their adverse impact on the environment and human health.

The subject matter attains critical importance since the use of such chemicals in the automotive sector might work as technical barrier for trading in the future. The conference will see deliberations that would provide unique database/information hitherto inadequately available on the use and disposal of hazardous chemicals, POPs and heavy metals in the complete lifecycle of a vehicle. The industry body says that such database could facilitate the automotive sector, regulatory agencies, R&D institutions and various government bodies for piloting the discussions and negotiations under the Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions, for which MoEF&CC is the nodal agency.

Former judge of the Supreme Court and former chairman of National Green Tribunal (NGT), Justice Swatanter Kumar will grace the event as the chief guest.  The chairman of Environment Pollution (prevention and control) Authority (EPCA) chairman, Bhure Lal will be the special guest of honour for the conference. 

Dr Bharat Kumar Sharma, additional director, Central Pollution Control Board, government of India; Rashmi Urdhwareshe, director, ARAI; Thomas Fruhbuss, account business executive, DXC Technology;  Dr Sharath Pallerla, director, ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, government of India; Dr Anand Kumar, additional director, Central Pollution Control Board, government of India;  Dr A N Vaidya, National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), government of India; Paurnima Barwe, Volvo Group; Nisha Ganesan, IMDS coordinator, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles; Dr Ishizuka Satoshi, senior advisor, Maruti Suzuki India; Sumit Issar, MD, Mahindra Intertrade; S Shanmugham, global leader - Materials Technology, Wabco India; Frank Nottebom, account business executive, DXC Technology; Shridhar Rajappanavar, technical head, PCCS; Guru Shankar Rajan, DGM, Mahindra & Mahindra; Asmita Sathaye, DGM, Tata Motors; Ajith Kumar, consultant R&D, TVS Motor and Srinivasa Raghavan, material science expert, Brakes India will be the key present along with other ministries and various national and international experts and consultants from India, overseas in addition with the ACMA and SIAM members.