India won’t make any more changes in EV policy to suit specific company: Amitabh Kant on Tesla

NEW DELHI: India cannot have individual EV policies for every company, G20 sherpa Amitabh Kant said. He was responding to a question on why Tesla did not come to India after the CEO announced a visit in April, but cancelled it at the last moment.

Kant said that India has drafted an EV policy and all companies have to follow only that policy. India will not change its EV policy according to some specific companies. “So, the policy has been announced. You can’t have policies for individual companies. The policy for EVs has been announced”, he said.

Kant’s statement points out that Tesla may have made some specific demands from the Indian government specifically for the company.

#WATCH | Delhi: Former CEO NITI Aayog Amitabh Kant says, “…So our objective should be to make India fully electric as far as two-wheelers, three-wheelers, buses are concerned by 2030 and ensures that India becomes electric vehicle nation…

On Tesla, he says, “The policy for… pic.twitter.com/yEIMDR9s0Z

— ANI (@ANI) May 18, 2024

India announced an EV policy, where incentives are proposed for setting up manufacturing units in India. The policy has asked for a minimum investment threshold of Rs 4,150 crore ($500 million) and encouraging manufacturers to achieve significant levels of domestic value addition (DVA), the government mandates that by the third year of setting up the manufacturing unit, at least 25 per cent of the parts used to make the vehicles should be sourced domestically. This localization level is expected to increase to 50 per cent by the fifth year of operation.

Under the new policy, the companies that would set up manufacturing facilities in India for EV passenger cars will be allowed to import a limited number of cars at lower Customs/import duty of 15 per cent on vehicles costing $35,000 and above for five years from the date of issuance of the approval letter by the government.

The total number of EVs allowed for import under the policy will be limited based on the investment made, or of a maximum value of Rs 6484 crore, whichever is lower. If the investment exceeds $800 million, a maximum of 40,000 EVs can be imported, with no more than 8,000 per year. Unused import limits can be carried over.

Kant also said, “A lot of action is under way in the coming five years”. He acknowledged the massive disruption occurring in the automotive industry, driven by the global shift towards sustainable transportation.

Kant said, “There is a huge disruption taking place and it’s important that we accelerate the pace of electric vehicles both in two-wheelers and three-wheelers which account for about 75 per cent of our vehicles and the government has already allocated Rs 57,613 crore for procuring 10,000 electric buses”.

Kant outlined the expected ripple effects of these investments, forecasting a boom in the manufacturing of electric two-wheelers, three-wheelers and buses. (ANI)