India, UK partner to decarbonize transport systems

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: India and the UK are partnering to become the first countries to transition to Net Zero transport systems.

The collaboration dubbed Innovating for Transport and Energy Systems (ITES), is supported by both the governments, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and delivered by the Indian Institute of Science (IISc.). It aims to bring together researchers, policymakers, innovators and investors from both countries to tackle challenges around decarbonization in an affordable transport system.

An MoU was signed on Apr. 26, 2023, in Westminster, to foster scientific innovation and economic growth between the two countries in this regard. ITES will provide UK SMEs with a 'soft-landing' in the Indian market and offer opportunities for SMEs and start-ups in India to develop and export decarbonisation solutions for transportation.

The initiative will facilitate low-risk, high-impact pilots with trusted partners, enabling innovators to safely test and export solutions. The IISc will be steering the initiative. Prof Ashish Verma, Convenor of the IISc Sustainable Transportation (IST) Lab expressed his commitment to exploring disruptive, cuttingedge and collaborative solutions.

He highlighted that India is currently passing through an interesting phase of economic growth and infrastructure development in many sectors including transport, which provides a great opportunity for the country to leapfrog to a sustainable and Net Zero future. This program will test cutting-edge technologies such as electric and hydrogen solutions to ensure that they are affordable, reliable, and acceptable to consumers and businesses.

ITES will work towards developing infrastructure and energy generation systems that can meet the demand of the market. It also aims to attract public, private, and third-sector partners and sponsors to help solve practical issues such as zero-emission fleets and innovative charging technologies.

"ITES, which is anchored within the IST lab, will harness the UK and India's rich reputation for R&D and the strength of our business sectors to pioneer test beds that unlock better data, clearer decision-making and bolder collective action from industry and leaders in the transport and energy sector," he added.