On Wednesday, the government declared that it is not taking into consideration any request to grant duty exemptions and exemptions from local value addition for the importation of electric cars into the nation.

The government has announced a production-linked incentive scheme for the automobile and auto component industry, with a budgetary outlay of Rs 25,938 crore. This was in response to a question about whether Tesla and other multinational car companies would be exempt from local value addition of cost in heavy batteries, semiconductors, and magnetic parts; as well as subsidy on the import duty on the import of Electric Vehicles (EVs) in India. Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Som Parkash made this statement.

According to him, the action was taken to increase domestic production of advanced automotive technologies items, such as electric vehicles and their components, by offering financial advantages.

According to Parkash, there isn’t currently a plan in place to subsidize import duties or to deduct local value-addition costs for EV imports into India.

In a written response to the Lok Sabha, the minister stated that as part of the Made in India strategy, the government has also taken several actions to increase both foreign and domestic investments in India and to improve local value addition.

He stated that the PLI project for advanced chemical cell battery storage, which has a financial cost of Rs 18,100 crore, has been authorized by the government.

The program provides incentives for the construction of 50 gigawatt-hour ACC manufacturing facilities on a Giga scale in the nation.

These comments are significant because Tesla, an American electric vehicle manufacturer, has asked that India lower its import taxes on EVs.

Completely Built Units (CBUs) imports are currently subject to customs duties ranging from 60% to 100%, depending on the engine size and the Cost, Insurance, and Freight (CIF) value, which can be less than or more than USD 40,000.

When Piyush Goyal, the minister of commerce and industry, visited Tesla’s Fremont, California, factory in November, the US electric vehicle manufacturer announced that it would double its imports of auto components from India.