India soon to come up with new Electric Vehicle investment policy

The Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, Piyush Goyal on Wednesday announced that the government is planning to come up with new policy to attract Electric Vehicle (EV) manufacturers and encourage greater investment in the auto sector.

According to the information, the statement from the union minister came as a backdrop after the US Electric Vehicle maker Tesla is in talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration on the possibility of building a factory in India.

As per reports, India was working on Electric Vehicle policy that would cut import taxes for automakers that committed to some local manufacturing, citing sources with direct knowledge of the matter.

Goyal was speaking at the 63rd Annual Session of the Automobile Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA). He said that going forward, demand for electric vehicles will increase and it will help in pushing the sector’s growth.

He said, “Tesla already last year bought one billion dollars of components from I think all of you sitting here….I have the list of companies that supply Tesla. This year, their target is nearly USD 1.7 billion or USD 1.9 billion as they mentioned.”

After being asked about the government’s plans, Goyal said that talks on the new policy will be held with the industry. “We will come out with a policy,” he said, adding that the government wants to attract more investment and increased domestic Electric Vehicle production as soon as possible.

Notably, one of the leading brands, Tesla has shown interest about a year after its CEO had called off the plans after Centre denied to reduce the import duties unless the Electric Vehicle manufacturer is committed to investment or local production. According to the experts, it is anticipated that Tesla’s entry in India could open up avenues for the global Electric Vehicle makers.