Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers
(SIAM), the apex automotive industry body, under its चक्रीयता (Circularity) initiative,
organized the 2 nd edition of International Conference on Sustainable Circularity
(ICSC), themed “Towards Nature Positive Pathway: Embracing Circular
Economies with Low Carbon Strategies” on the last day of the Bharat Mobility
Global Expo 2024. In accordance with the initiative’s goal of promoting the circular
economy, this conference aimed at bringing together industry stakeholders and
government representatives at the highest level to deliberate on pathways to an
automotive circular economy in India.
In alignment with the conference’s theme, the event commenced with the Hon’ble
Chief Guest, Mr. Arvind Nautiyal, Joint Secretary & Member Secretary,
Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM), along with other esteemed
dignitaries unveiling the Context Paper titled “Gas Based Mobility: Fuelling India’s
Economy”. This paper centers on the sustainable gas-based vehicular fuel
Compressed Bio Gas (CBG) derived from recycling biomass/waste.
The inaugural session was themed “Vision for Fostering Nature Positive
Circularity Principles in Automotive Sector: Policy & Regulatory Framework”.
Welcoming the audience at the conference, Mr. Prashant K Banerjee, Executive
Director, SIAM, said, “SIAM is dedicated to building the nation responsibly and
contributing to India's ambitious goal of becoming a developed nation by 2047.
Through the चक्रीयता (Circularity) initiative, we are steadfast in our commitment to
reduce the auto industry's carbon footprint and to cultivate a sustainable future for
the next generation."
On the occasion, Hon’ble Chief Guest, Mr. Arvind Nautiyal, Joint Secretary &
Member Secretary, CAQM, expressed, “Phasing out old vehicles, combined with
incentives for scrapping, and hazardous waste management have to be dovetailed
into material circularity policies."
Mr. Sharath Kumar Pallerla, Advisor, MoEF&CC, highlighted, "India, with 18% of
the global population, emits only 5% of global emissions due to the circularity
ingrained in our culture. However, we must augment our efforts towards embracing
circularity principles to ensuring a harmonious balance between our economic
developmental actions and environmental responsibility."
Mr. Ashish Chutani, Head Government Affairs & Relationships, Maruti Suzuki,
highlighted, "The success of India’s sustainable mobility vision hinges on embracing
three pivotal strategies: Scrappage, Circularity, and EPR."
Mr. Sanjay Mehta, President, MRAI, said, "Creating the circular economy depends
on 6Rs—reduce, reuse, recycle, recover, redesign, and remanufacture. Our
commitment should include embracing these 6Rs and encouraging at least one-
thirds of recyclable material in production.”
The session further included theme presentations by Mr. David Nolan, Executive
Director, Auto Recyclers Association of Australia and Ms. Anuradda Ganesh,

Chief Technical Advisor, Cummins followed by the concluding remarks from Mr. M
S Anandkumar, Chairman, SIAM Recycling and Material Group.
Technical session 1, themed “Closing the Loop: Criticality of Extended Producer
Responsibility in ELV Recycling”, was chaired by Mr. Bharat Sharma, Member
Secretary, CPCB on Policy Perspective and Recycling Portal Management.
The session included thematic presentations from Mr. Siddarth Bapna, Co-founder
& Director, Blue Verse on “Introduction to India’s first Sustainable and Automated
vehicle washing solution”, and Mr. Rahul Gupta, Chief Steel Recycling Business,
Tata Steel.
Mr. Bharat Sharma, Member Secretary, CPCB on Policy Perspective and
Recycling Portal Management, said, "The surge in registration requests on the
EPR Portal is encouraging. It's heartening to witness that producers and recyclers
are earnestly embracing EPR obligations and actively working to reduce and recycle
waste.”
Mr. Sajiv, said, Joint Secretary, DPIIT, said, “Thoughtful consumption is key to
achieving sustainability goals and we must adopt environment-friendly habits.
Making the mobility sector sustainable requires effective implementation of EPR and
recycling strategies that can pave the way for swift transition towards a greener and
responsible future."
Mr. Ashim Sharma, Senior Partner & Group Head, NRI Consulting & Solutions,
said, “The automotive sector is swiftly adopting recycling practices, and the success
of recycling policies is attributed to consumer incentives and extended producer
responsibility. These strategic initiatives are proving instrumental in steering the
industry towards a more sustainable and environmentally conscious future."
Technical Session 2, themed ‘Recycling Resources for a Sustainable Future:
Power of Reduce-Reuse-Recycling (3Rs) Principle in the Automotive Sector’,
was chaired by Mr. V K Misra, Chairman, ITTAC. The session included thematic
presentation from Mr. Rajat Verma, CEO, Lohum Cleantech, on “Sustainable
Critical Minerals for Net-zero”, Mr. Vinod Babu, Director, CPCB on “ELV Handling
& Management: Policies and Best Practices”, Mr. Navin Sharma, Executive
Director, Gravita India, on “Material Recycling Technologies: Innovations in Driving
Sustainability across the Automotive Sector”, Mr. Shantanu Gupta, Executive
Director, IOCL, Mr. Ved Prakash Mishra, Director, MoEF&CC, on “Policy and
Regulatory Regime for E-waste Management in India”, and Mr. Anant Bhargava,
CEO & Director IFP Petro, on “Best Practices: Lessons Learned from Successful
Cases of Used Oil Recycling”.
Mr. V K Misra, Chairman, ITTAC, said, "With a growing population and limited
resources, it's imperative to take concrete measures towards sustainability. Adopting
and implementing the Circularity principle is critical to ensure responsible resource
management which will serve as a resilient foundation for the future."
Dr. Rashid Hasan, Senior Advisor, SIAM, said, "Embracing Circularity involves
three key elements: Collection & segregation, the 3Rs, and EPR. Equally important
is understanding the potential applications of recycled materials.”

Technical Session 3, themed ‘Innovative ELV Recycling for Sustainability:
Resource Conservation & Green Growth’, was chaired by Mr. Manish Mathur,
Partner (Asia Automotive), Kearney, who also gave a thematic presentation. The
other thematic presentations were from Dr. Arun Jaura, Chief Technology Officer
(CTO), Hero MotoCorp, Ms. P Bineesha, Advisor-MRAI and Executive Director,
IIWM, on “Operationalising Circular Economy in ELV Recycling Units”, Mr. Masaru
Akaishi, Managing Director, Maruti Suzuki Toyotsu India Pvt Ltd, on
“Sustainable Materials Recovery from ELVs: From Challenge to Opportunity”. Mr.
Kartick Nagpal, President, Rosmerta Group, spoke on “Implementing Extended
Producer Responsibility (EPR) in the Auto Industry: Challenges and Solutions at
RVSF Level”.
Mr Vijay Prakash Yadav, Director, CPCB, said, “We have covered producers and
recyclers in the EPR but the responsibility extends to the larger people.”
In his concluding remark, Mr. Prashant K Banerjee, Executive Director, SIAM,
summarised the ideas of the session focussing on innovative End-of-Life Vehicle
(ELV) recycling methods, resource conservation and fostering green growth.
The successful organization of the 2 nd edition of ICSC showcased SIAM’s
commitment to promoting circularity in the automotive sector in order to facilitate
India’s move towards sustainable mobility. The event concluded on a high note,
facilitating a rich and insightful exchange of ideas, best practices, and strategies.
SIAM also created a Circularity Pavilion at the expo alongside this conference.