SIAM Holds First International Conference on Automotive Material Compliance

The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) closed its Sustainability Week 2026 with the inaugural International Conference on Automotive Material Compliance & Sustainability (AMCS) at India Habitat Centre in New Delhi on Wednesday.

The event brought together participants from India, Europe, the United States, and Japan to discuss end-of-life vehicle (ELV) management, material data transparency, and regulatory alignment across global automotive supply chains.

The conference was held under the theme "Driving Circularity, Compliance, and Innovation in the Global Automotive Supply Chain" and marked the conclusion of a four-day programme organised by SIAM, the apex national body representing major vehicle and vehicular engine manufacturers in India.

Speaking at the opening session, SIAM Executive Director Prashant K. Banerjee noted that India — now the world's third-largest automobile market — is advancing sustainable mobility through global safety standards and circular economy-led decarbonisation. He pointed to the End-of-Life Vehicles (ELV) Rules, 2025, enacted last year, as a framework strengthening vehicle scrappage, recycling efficiency, and resource recovery in the country.

A context paper titled "Strengthening Automotive Material Compliance Across the Vehicle Value Chain" was released at the event. The document outlines policy and industry steps required to align India's automotive sector with international material compliance standards.

Rising IMDS Adoption and Digital Supply Chains

A recurring theme across sessions was the role of digital platforms in tracking material compliance. Frank Nottebom, Account Delivery Executive at DXC Technology for IMDS and CDX, cited a rise in India's active users of the International Material Data System (IMDS) from 3,600 to 21,000 in 2025 as evidence of growing industry commitment to data-driven compliance. IMDS is a global system used by automotive manufacturers to document the material composition of vehicle components.

Hanno Focken, Managing Director of Catena-X — a European initiative building open standards for automotive data exchange — addressed India's positioning in global digital supply chains. He said that evolving regulatory demands require significant transformation of industry processes and pointed to open, industry-governed data standards as a path forward for manufacturers operating across multiple jurisdictions.

Regulatory and Environmental Pressures

In the technical sessions, speakers addressed both domestic and international regulatory frameworks. A. Ramesh Kumar, Principal Scientist at CSIR-NEERI, discussed Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) — substances regulated under the Stockholm Convention — and called on the automotive sector to accelerate its shift toward environmentally safer chemicals and materials. India is a signatory to the Convention, which lists 37 substances subject to controls.

International perspectives on regulatory trends were presented by representatives from CLEPA (the European Association of Automotive Suppliers), AIAG (the Automotive Industry Action Group from the United States), and JAPIA (the Japan Auto Parts Industries Association). The presentations covered how each region is navigating changes in material compliance rules, with implications for global supply chains that include Indian manufacturers.

Sanjeev Jain, Director of Purchase at Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India, cited a national target of a 45 per cent reduction in carbon intensity by 2030 and pointed to policy tools — including Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) mandates, vehicle scrappage norms, and Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards — as instruments driving the transition. He also referenced clean technologies such as flex fuels, electric vehicles, and green hydrogen as part of India's shift toward lower-emission mobility.

Implementation Challenges for OEMs and Suppliers

A panel discussion in the third technical session addressed the practical difficulties faced by original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and component makers in meeting product compliance requirements. Participants represented companies including TVS Motor Company, Volvo, DENSO, Uno Minda, Southco, and APA Engineering.

Prabhakar Bhangare, CEO of Global PCCS and session moderator, presented data on the current level of IMDS adoption among Indian suppliers, describing varying degrees of readiness across the supply chain. The discussion reflected a broader concern raised throughout the conference: that India's component manufacturing base, while growing in scale, requires further development in compliance infrastructure and data management capabilities to meet global standards.

SIAM was established under the Societies Registration Act, 1860, and functions as a non-profit body focused on policy advocacy, industry development, and safety and environmental standards for the Indian automobile sector. The organisation has been involved in facilitating dialogue between government, industry, and international bodies on regulations governing vehicle emissions, safety, and now material sustainability.

India's automotive industry has been under increasing pressure from both domestic policy and export-market requirements to demonstrate environmental accountability across its supply chains. The ELV Rules, 2025, introduced mandatory obligations for vehicle manufacturers regarding the collection, treatment, and recycling of end-of-life vehicles — a framework that aligns India more closely with similar regulations in the European Union and other major markets.

The AMCS conference represents SIAM's first dedicated international forum on material compliance, positioning it as an annual platform as India seeks to deepen its integration into global automotive supply networks.