Government of India has approved the proposal of implementation of scheme titled “Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicle in India phase II (FAME India Phase II) for promotion of Electric Vehicle (EV) in the country. The scheme with total outlay of Rs 10,000 Crores (about €1.25 billion) over the period of three years (i.e. from 2019-20 to 2021-22) will be implemented with effect from 1st April 2019. 

Government has approved the proposal for setting up a national mission on transformative mobility and battery storage, to drive clean, connected, shared, sustainable and holistic mobility initiatives. Apart from this, government has also approved creation of Phased Manufacturing Program (PMP) for 5 years till 2024 to support setting up of a few large-scale, export-competitive integrated batteries and cell-manufacturing Giga plants in India.

As part of the road map under the phased manufacturing programme (PMP), Government has notified phased increase in basic customs duty on parts of electric passenger vehicles to be assembled in India to 15% from April 2020 and 10% on imported lithium-ion cells by April 2021 to promote domestic manufacturing of EVs.  The notification also entails doubling the basic customs duty on completely built units of electric buses and trucks to 50% from April 2020.

Volkswagen, German multinational automotive manufacturing company, opened a new R&D facility in Pune as part of the group’s ‘India 2.0’ plan that calls for a Rs 2,000-crore (250 miilion euros) investment into R&D, helping enhance the local content in the cars to be sold in the world’s fastest-expanding major economy. 

A new National industrial policy, aimed to develop global value chains, and to boost India’s manufacturing competitiveness, is awaiting cabinet approval.  Manufacturing cannot happen end to end only in one geography, and it has to be part of a global value chain and global supply chain. That is why a new industrial policy focusing on developing mutually beneficial value chain and supply chains is required.

The Cabinet has approved National Policy on Electronics 2019 in February 2019, which was proposed by Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) in 2018. The Policy aims to position India as a global hub for Electronics System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM) by encouraging and driving capabilities in the country for developing core components, including chipsets, and creating an enabling environment for the industry to compete globally.  NEP 2019 replaces NEP 2012.