Dr Mahendra Nath Pandey to be the Chief Guest at the Round Table Conference on 4th December, 2021 at Goa

Dr Mahendra Nath Pandey, Union Minister of Heavy Industries will be the Chief Guest at the Round Table Conference to Promote Electric Vehicles organized by Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI) on December 4, 2021 at Goa. Ministers of Transport and Chief Secretaries/Senior Officers from States, Industry Leaders from Automotive Sector, Start Ups and Technical Experts are participating in the conference. Shri Krishan Pal, Gurjar, Minister of State of Heavy Industries will be present as the Guest of Hour. Shri Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog will deliver the Key Note address. The aim of the conference is to work out strategies to promote adoption of Electric Vehicles in India and attract investment in manufacturing of EVs, batteries and high technology automotive components in India.

Automobile sector is a key driver of India's economic growth and the largest contributor to the manufacturing sector. Automobile industry contributes to nearly 6.4 per cent of India's GDP and 35 per cent of manufacturing GDP and is a leading employment provider.

India ranks number 1 in the world in two wheelers, 3 wheelers and tractors manufacturing and number 5 in passenger and commercial vehicles manufacturing. The size of Indian Original Equipments Manufacturers ( OEMs) is US $ 80.8 billion with exports of US $ 11.7 billion. Size of auto component industry is US $ 57 billion with exports of US $ 15 billion and imports of US $ 17.7 billion. In value terms Indian automotive industry is ranked number 11 in the world. This is because Indian automotive industry has succeeded in mass volume, lower value, lower technology products, not in advanced automotive technology products. In global automotive trade of US $ 1.5 trillion India's share is less than 2 per cent with total exports of US $ 27 billion. India's share of advanced automotive components is only 3 per cent compared to 18 per cent globally which is estimated to further grow to 30 per cent by 2030.

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 Electric vehicles having zero emission. Innovations and technological breakthroughs in EV components are catalyzing this disruption. Government of India has reaffirmed its commitment to reduce carbon emissions in the recently concluded COP26 summit. Government of India is giving impetus to accelerate the EV transition in view of the climate change concerns and to reduce dependence on imported oil and has pressed several policy levers to achieve the same.

Policy Initiatives to increase EV penetration

To give an impetus to manufacturing and adoption of Electric Vehicles and High-Technology Automotive, Ministry of Heavy Industries is executing 3 major schemes with a total outlay of Rs 54,038 crore:

(i) Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles in India II (FAME India II) scheme with an outlay of Rs 10,000 crore to incentivize demand for EVs by providing upfront subsidies and creating EV charging infrastructure. 1 million electric 2 Wheelers, 5 lakh Electric 3 Wheelers, 55,000 Electric Cars and 7,090 Electric Buses are to be supported under FAME II through subsidies.

(ii) National Programme on Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) with an outlay of Rs 18,100 crore to incentivize setting up of manufacturing facilities in the country for 50 Giga Watt Hour of ACC and 5 GWh of "Niche" ACC. Total investment of Rs 45,000 crore is envisaged under this scheme. The scheme will reduce the import bills of ACC by Rs 1,50,000 crore. Request for Proposal (RFP) has been issued on October 22, 2021 for inviting proposals from domestic and international Manufactures for setting up manufacturing facilities for ACC Battery Storage in India. Pre-Proposal Conference was held on Nov 12, 2021 which was attended by over 100 participants representing over 20 domestic and international manufactures. Last date for receipt of bids is Dec 31, 2021.

(iii) Productivity Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for Automobile and Auto Components with an outlay of Rs 25,938 crore to incentivise manufacturing of high technology automobiles and automotive components in India. It is estimated that over a period of five years, the PLI Scheme for Automobile and Auto Components Industry will lead to fresh investment of over ₹42,500 crore, incremental production of over ₹2.3 lakh crore and will create additional employment opportunities of over 7.5 lakh jobs. Further this will increase India's share in global automotive trade. PLI scheme for Automobile and Auto components and the Guidelines have been notified on Sep 23, 2021. Application Form for PLI Scheme, List of Advanced Automotive Technology Products and Window for Notice Inviting Applications has been notified on Nov 9, 2021 and published on Nov 10, 2021 in the official Gazette. Window for Notice Inviting Applications is open for 60 days from Nov 11, 2021 to Jan 9, 2022.

Other Policy interventions

Other key interventions by the Government to promote EVs include reduction of GST on EVs from 12 to 5 per cent, income tax deduction on the interest paid on loans taken to purchase electric vehicles, delicensing of EV charging by declaring it as a service and not sale of electricity, amendment of building bylaws codes and town planning rules for provision of EV charging stations, green license plates for EVs etc. Further, various State Governments have come out with policies to incentivise adoption of EVs in the state and attract investment for EV manufacturing in the State.

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