Australia to Give Minerals to Indian EV Makers
Context:
Australia is all set to supply critical minerals required for India’s electric vehicles, solar power projects and other strategic areas, said Canberra’s Minister for Resources and Minister for Northern Australia Madeleine King on Monday.
Relevance:
GS III- Indian Economy (Infrastructure)
Dimensions of the Article:
- Key Points
- Unlocking Australia-India critical minerals partnership potential
- Eight priority critical minerals
- About Electric Vehicles
- National Electric Mobility Mission Plan (NEMMP) 2020
Key Points:
Australia will commit $5.8 million to the three year India Australia Critical Minerals Investment Partnership
Australia has the resources to help India fulfil its ambitions to
- lower emissions
- meet growing demand for critical minerals to help India’s space and defence industries,
- manufacture of solar panels, batteries and electric vehicles
Unlocking Australia-India critical minerals partnership potential:
The programme highlights ways Australian companies and institutions can partner with India to:
• supply critical minerals
• attract investment for Australian mining and mineral processing projects
• export services and technology to process, refine, recover and recycle critical minerals
• help with mineral exploration in India
• support India’s mining-related environmental management
• carry out joint research projects.
India offers:
- economies of scale for off take projects
- a pipeline of manufacturing-led commercial innovation opportunities.
Eight priority critical minerals
- The report lists eight critical minerals that matter most to Australia and India.
- These are in three groups, based on their end-use industries:
- traditional – titanium and vanadium
- sunrise – lithium
- mixed use:
- cobalt
- nickel
- graphite
- light rare earth elements (LREEs)
- heavy rare earth elements (HREEs).
About Electric Vehicles:
- The earlier guidelines and standards were issued by the Ministry of Power in December 2018 and will be superseded by the new guidelines.
- Lack of charging infrastructure is one of the main reasons behind poor adoption of electric mobility in India.
- According to a survey by the Economic Times in May 2019, with appropriate infrastructure is in place, 90% car owners in India are willing to switch to EVs.
- Under the NEMMP 2020, there is an ambitious target to achieve 6-7 million sales of hybrid and electric vehicles by the year 2020.
- At present, EV market penetration is only 1% of total vehicle sales in India, and of that, 95% of sales are electric two-wheelers.
National Electric Mobility Mission Plan (NEMMP) 2020:
- It is a National Mission document by Ministry of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises providing the vision and the roadmap for the faster adoption of electric vehicles and their manufacturing in the country.
- As part of the NEMMP 2020, Scheme named Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles in India (FAME) was launched in the year 2015 to promote manufacturing of electric and hybrid vehicle technology and to ensure sustainable growth of the same.
- The Phase-I of this Scheme (FAME I) was initially launched for a period of 2 years and was implemented through four focus areas:
- Demand Creation,
- Technology Platform,
- Pilot Project
- Charging Infrastructure.
- FAME II
- It was launched in March 2019 for a period of 3 years.
- The main objective of the scheme is to encourage faster adoption of electric and hybrid vehicle by way of offering upfront incentive on purchase of electric vehicles and also by establishing the necessary charging infrastructure for electric vehicles.
New Indian Envoys For Key Countries
Context:
India’s Ambassador to Bhutan Ruchira Khamboj is taking over as the Permanent Representative to the United Nations, and India’s High Commissioner to Bangladesh Vikram Doraiswami is likely to be the next High Commissioner to the U.K.
Relevance:
GS-I: Important Personalities, Role of Women GS-II: Important International Institutions
Dimensions of the Article:
- What are Permanent Missions to the United Nations?
- The Indian Permanent Mission at the UN
What are Permanent Missions to the United Nations?
- The Permanent Mission is the diplomatic mission that every member state deputes to the United Nations, and is headed by a Permanent Representative, who is also referred to as the “UN ambassador”.
- According to the Vienna Convention: A permanent mission is a “mission of permanent character, representing the State, sent by a State member of an international organization to the Organization.”
- UN Permanent Representatives are assigned to the UN headquarters in New York City, and can also be appointed to other UN offices in Geneva, Vienna, and Nairobi.
The Indian Permanent Mission at the UN
- The Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations is the formal title of the Indian delegation to the United Nations (UN).
- There are currently eight Indians in senior leadership positions at the United Nations at the levels of Under Secretary General and Assistant Secretary General.
- India was among the select members of the United Nations that signed the United Nations Declaration at Washington on January 1, 1942.
- India also participated in the historic UN Conference of International Organization at San Francisco from April 25 to June 26, 1945.
Startup Ecosystem In India
Context:
Gujarat and Karnataka have been ranked as the best performers in developing startup ecosystem for budding entrepreneurs, according to the ranking of states and Union territories by the department for promotion of industry and internal trade (DPIIT).
Relevance:
GS II- Governance
Dimensions of the Article:
- Key Points
- About National Startup Advisory Council(NSAC)
- Challenges faced by the Start up’s
Key Points:
- Gujarat, Karnataka best states in providing strong ecosystem for startups.
- Among smaller states having population of less than one crore, Meghalaya has been adjudged as the best performer.
- For the third time in a row, Gujarat was ranked as the best performer.
- The exercise is aimed at supporting states and Union territories (UTs) in developing their startup ecosystem and learning from each other’s best practices.
- A total of 24 states and 7 UTs participated in the exercise, which ranked them under five categories — best performers, top performers, leaders, aspiring leaders and emerging startup ecosystems.
- The states and UTs were also ranked under these five categories based on the population of less than one crore.
- Kerala, Maharashtra, Odisha, Telangana and Jammu and Kashmir were categorised as the top performers.
- Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh, and Goa are in the leaders category.
- States and UTs in the aspiring leaders’ category include Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chandigarh, Puducherry and Nagaland.
- According to the ranking, the emerging startup ecosystems category includes Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Mizoram and Ladakh.
- They were evaluated across seven reform areas consisting of 26 action points, ranging from institutional support, fostering innovation, access to market, incubation and funding support.
About National Startup Advisory Council(NSAC):
- It was constituted by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT).
- Objective: This is to advise the Government on measures needed to build a strong startup ecosystem.
- Composition of the Council
- Chairman: Minister for Commerce & Industry.
- Convener of the Council: Joint Secretary, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade.
- Ex-officio Members: Nominees of the concerned Ministries/Departments/Organisations not below the rank of Joint Secretary.
- Non-official members, to be nominated by the Central Government, from various categories like founders of successful startups, veterans who have grown and scaled companies in India, persons capable of representing the interests of investors into startups, etc. The term of the non-official members will be for a period of two years.
Roles and functions:
- Suggest measures to foster a culture of innovation amongst citizens and students in particular, promote innovation in all sectors of economy across the country.
- Suggest measures to facilitate public organizations to assimilate innovation with a view to improving public service delivery, promote creation, protection and commercialization of intellectual property rights.
- Suggest making it easier to start, operate, grow and exit businesses by reducing regulatory compliances and costs, promote ease of access to capital for startups, and incentivize domestic capital for investments into startups.
- Mobilize global capital for investments in Indian startups, keep control of startups with original promoters and provide access to global markets for Indian startups.
Challenges faced by the Start up’s
- Financial scarcity: Access to capital is important for startups, and obtaining sufficient funds is always a challenge.
- Lack of Infrastructure: Incubators, science and technology parks, and other support mechanisms that play a vital part in the lifecycle of startups are lacking.
- Regulatory bottlenecks: Starting and quitting a firm involves a number of government permits. Even while there is a noticeable difference, it remains a difficulty.
- Compliance issues: For example, the earlier Angel tax, which has been repealed, is plagued by corruption and inefficiency in the bureaucracy.
- Low success rate: Several firms fail as a result of a shift in focus away from the foundations of business.
