The Indian auto market is on an upswing and considering the amount of vehicles that are currently added everyday on Indian roads, the scenario of China like traffic jams seems nothing but inevitable. The Indian roads have not been planned and developed so as to accommodate the growing number of automobiles.
According to a paper presented by the global research company LMC Automotive at an automotive conference in New Delhi in September 2012, the county's vehicle ownership could soon exceed the handling capacity of Indian roads. The prime reason could be attributed to the ever increasing population of the country, comprising affluent and middle-class sections of society. The total population of the country has surpassed 1.2 billion and accordingly, India's passenger car and commercial vehicle manufacturing industry became sixth largest in the world.
In 2011, almost 4 million were manufactured on the Indian soil and the domestic automotive market overtook those of Brazil, Belgium, Russia, United Kingdom, Spain, Canada, Mexico, Italy and France by growing at 16-18 per cent. The Indian automotive sector grew at a breathtaking pace in the last decade and has grown more than two folds, since surpassing the 1 million mark during 2003-2004.
Underlining the company's thorough study, Peter Kelly, Managing Director (MD), LMC Automotive, UK said, several million Indians “are crossing the wealth threshold to the stage they can afford cars,” and also added, “short-term variations in economic growth aren't likely to get in the way.”
According to LMC Automotive, the sales of the light vehicle Indian automotive sector comprising cars, Sports Utility Vehicles (SUV) and light trucks is estimated to get increased by four folds at 11 million units by 2020 as against the 2.7 million units registered in 2010. India being the Asia's third largest economy has attracted a number of global auto players due to its heavy potential and emerging car market. In the last few years, several top car companies have installed their manufacturing units in the country, so as to establish a safe room, in the event of Western automotive markets getting saturated.
Reportedly, the Indian government targets to spend some $ 1 trillion towards the up-gradation of the span and expansion of the country's dishevelled roads, ports, airports and other infrastructure over the next half decade. However, considering the present traffic scenario, jam free Indian roads and streets seems like a distant dream and unless the government remodels and formulates new rules on the number of vehicle ownership, the future looks depressing.
Recently, the Uttar Pradesh government opened for the general public, its spanking new six lanes and access controlled Yamuna Expressway stretching over 165 km, thereby cutting the travel time between New Delhi and Agra by more than half.
