Electric vehicles not sole solution to reducing emissions: TVS Motor Chairman

Representational Image. File pic.

TVS Motor Chairman Emeritus Venu Srinivasan on Monday said the auto industry should remain agnostic in its efforts to cut emissions, while stating that electric vehicles (EV) are not the only solution to control pollution, reported news agency PTI.

"I always believe we have to be agnostic (in technology) and look at the net effect on the country in terms of pollution, quality and environment. So, EV is not the only solution," Srinivasan said on the sidelines of the IFQM Symposium 2026.

He said consumer choice should play an important role in terms of technology they want to use and said the EV segment should be allowed to grow organically. In India, EV adoption has been gaining increasing, particularly in the three-wheeler and two-wheeler segments.

Ethanol-blended petrol

Srinivasan said the ethanol blending in petrol could help India reduce its fuel imports, and pointed out that the impact of the blended fuel on vehicle performance has so far been limited.

"The degradation in performance is very marginal. I think that should not deter us. After all, the whole of Brazil runs on ethanol," he said.

Srinivasan said consumers may not necessarily need the option to choose among fuel blends up to E10, but offering a choice at higher ethanol blends could be warranted due to concerns about the potential effects of increased ethanol content on vehicle materials.

"There might be a mild fuel drop, but I think that is being played up too much. The country should look at the imports. And it is ecologically more friendly...I always believe that their choice should be there," he said.

India is the third largest importer and consumer of crude oil, globally.

India should exceed quality benchmarks

Srinivasan also highlighted the need for Indian companies to exceed the global quality and productivity standards to secure a bigger share of global manufacturing.

"We have a long, long way to go because we have benchmarks in the world from Korea, China, Japan that we have to meet and exceed if you want a fair share of global manufacturing and products and services to come to India," he said.

"We have to make India synonymous with the word quality," he added.

"The Germans stood for quality...came Japan, Korea, China, and India has to very soon get on that bandwagon where you can buy an Indian product because it's a trusted product," he said, adding "This is the most important challenge for us."

He further said that for India to realise the vision of being a developed economy by 2047, it cannot be built solely on cost competitiveness and will require greater emphasis on innovation, product, design, as per ANI.

(With inputs from PTI and ANI)