Asia

Webinar: India’s roadmap to electrification

15 July 2021

Electrification is a priority in India, and so offers plenty of opportunities for UK automotive businesses. Listen back to this webinar to hear an update on electrification in India, and also how you can take advantage of upcoming activities.

Agenda: 

  1. Welcome (SMMT)
  2. Indian perspective on the technology roadmap for electrification (Mrs Rashmi Urdhawareshe)
  3. Opportunities for UK companies (Kimberly Francis DIT & Avnish Malhotra DIT)
  4. Activities in India (SMMT)
  5. Q&A (all)

Listen back here

Speaker bios

Mrs Rashmi Urdhwareshe, President of Society of Automobile Engineers and Former Director of ARAI (2014-2020)

Mrs. Rashmi Urdhwareshe was the Director of ARAI (Automotive Research Association of India, Pune) from 2014 until 2020. Having started her career as Trainee Engineer, Mrs. Urdhwareshe rose through the ranks to take the coveted position as Director of ARAI and during her ARAI scaled new heights in technology, business excellence and R&D. Under her leadership, The Center of Excellence in E-Mobility, Homologation and Technology Centre and several key facilities were created to provide dedicated services to the automotive and other engineering sectors at national and international level.

She is currently President of SAE India (Society of Automobile Engineers), is also Senior Advisor to Pune Knowledge Cluster (PKC) and has taken up several Advisory and Mentorship roles for Corporates, Educational/ Research programs and Government Agencies.

Mrs. Urdhwareshe holds a master’s degree in E&TC, Diploma in Corporate Directorship and is a Six Sigma Black Belt. Her 37+ years of industrial experience and expertise includes wide range of subjects in automotive domain like vehicular safety, Air quality and exhaust measurements, Standards/ Regulations, R&D and technology, Green mobility, Alternate fuels, Quality Systems and Business Excellence.

Mrs. Urdhwareshe is Co-author of Book on Total Quality Management and is a recipient of several awards in the areas of women Empowerment, Corporate Leadership, Engineering Excellence, E-mobility, Business Excellence and Quality Excellence. For her lifetime contributions towards development of Automotive Technology, she is honored with Nari Shakti Puraskar 2019, by the Hon’ble President of India. Her other interests are instrumental music, writing technical articles, reading and extensive travelling.

 

Kimberly Francis, Executive Officer, Future Mobility for the Department for International Trade in India

Kimberly is an Executive officer in the Future Mobility Sector at the Department for International Trade (DIT) in India. Her remit is to facilitate Trade relations with British Automotive Businesses and Indian companies in the Auto sector, with a spotlight on enterprises engaged in the space of Future Mobility. Some of the successes she has nurtured include leading OEM’s, Tier 1 companies and supply chain organisations. Her journey with the British High Commission began in 2008 and she has diverse experience of working in other key sectors to both countries such as Infrastructure, Education, Creative and Healthcare.

Kimberly has a background in Political Science and is currently pursuing a Masters in Design Thinking. Prior to joining this mission, she was in PR hospitality. When she’s not working, Kimberly is either baking or globetrotting.

LinkedInKimberly Mary Francis

Twitter@kimoksha

Official Email: Kimberly.francis@fcdo.gov.uk

 

Avnish Malhotra, Future Mobility Specialist and Head of the British Trade Office in Pune for the Department for International Trade, India

Avnish is the Future Mobility specialist for DIT in India and Head of the British Trade Office in Pune, Maharashtra. He has over 20 years of experience working in the Automotive sector, assisting cross border deals of over £ 200 Mn within the UK-India trade & Investment corridor. He has assisted around 28 UK automotive companies establish operation in India and facilitated nearly 13 Indian companies’ set-up operations or R & D centres in UK.

In his earlier life Avnish used to run a family business of manufacturing components for OE supply. He is an Engineer by training, with a Dual MBA from Symbiosis University, Pune and Open University, UK.

Avnish is an avid badminton player, likes quick getaway’s with his family and enjoys reading in spare time.