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The Indian government has set an ambitious target for reducing the import of fossil fuels by 10% and introducing an all-electric car fleet by 2030. The Government of India launched the National Electric Mobility Mission Plan (NEMMP) 2020 in 2013 to promote Electric Vehicles (EVs) in India with the objective of providing incentives for use of EVs; encouraging research & development in the areas of battery technology, system integration, testing infrastructure; and promoting charging infrastructure. The Indian government is also working on a scheme by which an electric car can be purchased free of cost: zero down payments, and monthly payments out of savings on the cost of petrol. It is envisaged that sooner or later, e-vehicles will transform the automobile market and provide environmental sustainability to the society. Political stability to provide stable policies is expected to play a key role in driving the growth of such vehicles. So far, preliminary research has been undertaken on perception of Indian Society on EVs. Based on empirical research, this paper attempts to address the gap. A study was conducted from November 2016 to April 2017 in Delhi-NCR with a sample size of 220 professionals working in manufacturing and service industry to understand the upcoming green transport facilities and their perceived environmental benefits as perceived by the residents of the society. Convenience sampling was used to collect the data. The Study highlighted that the design and utility of the EVs need to be reshaped so that it can compete with the gasoline vehicles in the current environment. Almost 95% of the respondents are ready to pay a premium for new technology or EVs. The study revealed that infusion of capital support and government subsidies can play a key role in acquiring new customers and establishing the market for EVs in the Indian market. The results show that there is a need to enhance awareness of NEMMP scheme within the society so that the EV market share can be increased. The results highlight that with availability of options, society will use the transport system which is environment friendly.

The impact of COVID-19 has been sector-specific as per relaxations allowed under different lockdown announcements by the Indian Government. Sectors with high potential threats of spreading COVID-19 cases have been allowed restricted operations. Depending on the degree of operationalization as per government orders, employment prospects have widened after the complete lockdown period has elapsed. The Government of Himachal Pradesh had rolled out the skill register (https://skillregister.hp.gov.in/) to capture the impact of COVID-19 in the month of July 2020. There are around 16,243 people who have registered themselves on this portal till February 2021 and have shown interest in employment opportunities. To understand the current employment situations among the respondents and job needs, a skill study was conducted from November 2020 to February 2021. Seventy-five percent of these registrations are from four districts of Himachal Pradesh namely Kangra, Hamirpur, Mandi, and Una. Data was collected from 550 respondents by using the simple random sampling method. The study highlights that around 56% of respondents registered in the skill portal had lost jobs due to COVID-19 lockdown.

Respondents shared that the skill mission of Himachal Pradesh made substantial efforts and around 47% of the respondents were connected to the various opportunities available in industries within Himachal Pradesh. Out of these, relevant industrial units had contacted around 13% of respondents and only one respondent out of 550 respondents had joined the job. Low salary, lack of jobs in the preferred area, the mismatch between required qualifications and experiences, risk of transmission of COVID-19, etc., remained as major reasons for the refusal of jobs by the respondents. The result highlights that the parameters like relevant experiences, pre COVID -19 salary, education level, technical skills, urgency of job are some of the potential factors which are considered by the respondents to return to the industry.

Significant developments in the service sector have been brought about by Industry 4.0. Automated digital technologies make it possible to upgrade existing services and develop modern industrial services. This study prioritizes critical factors for adopting Industry 4.0 in the Indian service industries.

The author identified four criteria and fifteen significant factors from the relevant literature that have been corroborated by industry experts. Models are then developed by the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and analytical network process (ANP) approach to ascertain the significant factors for adopting Industry 4.0 in service industries. Further, sensitivity analysis has been conducted to determine the sensitivities of the rank of criteria and sub-factors to corroborate the results.

The outcome reveals the top significant criteria as organizational criteria (0.5019) and innovation criteria (0.3081). This study prioritizes six significant factors information technology (IT) specialization, digital decentralization of all departments, organizational size, smart services through customer data, top management support and Industry 4.0 infrastructure in the transition toward Industry 4.0 in the service industries.

The potential factors identified in this study will assist managers in determining strategies to effectively manage the Industry 4.0 transition by concentrating on top priorities when leveraging Industry 4.0. The significance of organizational and innovation criteria given more weight will lay the groundwork for future Industry 4.0 implementation guidelines in service industries.

Our research is novel since, to our knowledge, no previous study has investigated the potential critical factors from organizational, environmental, innovation and cost dimensions. Thus, the potential critical factors identified are the contributions of this study.