Mr. Anand Srinivasan, Managing Director, Covestro (India) Private Limited

India becoming a 5 trillion economy by 2025 depends on policy decision that government takes now. While digitalisation will remain cornerstone of strategy, Government should put equal emphasis on building blocks i.e. Manufacturing and R&D, making Indian manufacturing as most favoured destination. As environment sustainability is the key to the future, government should provide incentive on the promotion of sustainable solutions that will help in reducing India’s carbon footprint and promote circular economy. The Union budget 2020 needs to be focused on forming policies that support the businesses working towards adoption of green practices. Promoting responsible use of plastics and efforts towards reducing carbon emission should be of prime importance and any budgetary intervention in this regard will be a positive step.

Also, to further accelerate the adoption of Electric Vehicle, the government should eliminate the customs duty of 5 per cent from Lithium-ion cells which will help to promote local manufacturing of the batteries in the country. Besides this, the government needs to focus on incentivizing companies building EV ecosystems like installing charging stations, battery swapping stations and building robust EV Infrastructure for long term sustainability and reduction in cost.