look news india
New Delhi: In a bid to make India a major manufacturing hub for cutting-edge technologies such as electric vehicles and energy storage systems, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the removal of customs duty on 25 key minerals, including lithium, nickel, copper and cobalt. But the budget has failed to provide immediate relief for the electric vehicle sector.
Electric vehicle industry sources believe that the relaxation in import conditions and the government's 'Make in India' initiative will give a boost, but its benefits will be long-term. They also say that the budget has failed to provide immediate relief to the industry. This move of the government is expected to reduce the price of vehicles in the long run.
Sector experts say it will have minimal impact in the short term. In the short term, the industry is importing batteries and without a local processing industry, merely removing duty on raw materials will not benefit the sector. To take advantage of the government's initiative, the industry will have to develop core mineral processing and refining capacities under the Critical Mineral Drive.
The electric vehicle industry was expecting the announcement of the FAME 3 policy in the budget and special incentives for the EV sector. But it has not been included in the budget. We hope that before the current scheme ends this month, the government will give clarification on reducing or eliminating taxes on providing services in remote areas.