Govt seeks investment in space

Govt along with stakeholders will work out strategies to attract investment in manufacturing of EVs, batteries and high-technology automotive components in India

New Delhi: The heavy industries ministry is organising a conference of all stakeholders, including government officials, industry leaders and start-ups, in Goa on December 4 to work out strategies to promote adoption of electric vehicles and attract investment in manufacturing of EVs, batteries and high-tech auto components, an official statement said on Thursday.

Heavy Industries Minister Mahendra Nath Pandey will be the chief guest at the round table conference, in which State transport ministers, chief secretaries, senior officers, industry leaders from automotive sector, start-ups and technical experts are participating. "The aim of the conference is to work out strategies to promote the adoption of electric vehicles in India and attract investment in manufacturing of EVs, batteries and high-technology automotive components in India," it said.

The automobile industry contributes nearly 6.4 per cent to India's GDP and 35 per cent to manufacturing GDP, and is a leading employment provider. India ranks No. 1 in the world in two-wheelers, three-wheelers and tractors manufacturing and No. 5 in passenger and commercial vehicles manufacturing.

The size of Indian original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) is $80.8 billion with exports of $11.7 billion. The size of the auto component industry is $57 billion with exports of $15 billion and imports of $17.7 billion. In global automotive trade of $1.5 trillion, India's share is less than two per cent with total exports of $27 billion. India's share of advanced automotive components is only three per cent compared to 18 per cent globally, which is estimated to further grow to 30 per cent by 2030.

The ministry said that in the post-pandemic world, with a renewed thrust on climate change, there is a disruptive change happening in the global automotive scenario with big boost to future technology EVs having zero emission. Steps taken to promote EVs include Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles in India II (FAME India II) scheme; National Programme on Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC); and Productivity Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for automobile and auto components. "Other key interventions by the government to promote EVs include reduction of GST from 12 to 5 per cent, income tax deduction on the interest paid on loans taken to purchase EVs, delicensing of EV charging by declaring it as a service and not sale of electricity, amendment of building by-laws codes and town planning rules for provision of EV charging stations, green license plates for EVs etc," it added.