Mahindra and Tata Motors Urge Indian Officials Privately to Retain 100% Import Taxes on Electric Vehicles.
Indian automaker Mahindra & Mahindra has told the government there must be a level playing field between domestic and foreign players and local manufacturing must be promoted, a top executive said, as New Delhi seeks to lure carmakers such as Tesla.
Mahindra and Tata Motors have pressed Indian officials privately not to lower import taxes of 100 percent on electric vehicles and protect domestic firms and their foreign investors as the government reviews Tesla’s plans to enter the market, Reuters reported last month.
Asked about Tesla’s entry and New Delhi’s planned policy to lower import taxes, Mahindra Managing Director Anish Shah said his company had made representations to Indian officials saying global EV makers must be nudged to invest in India.
“It should be a level playing field and investing in India is important,” Shah told Reuters in an interview at the World Economic Forum annual meeting, without referring to Tesla by name.
“Our approach is essentially to create a stronger industry in India, and not to be in a situation where manufacturing is done outside India, and India just becomes an importer of products,” he added.
India sold 4 million cars last year and just 82,000 of those were EVs, but the nascent segment clocked sales growth of 115 percent versus the previous year.
Mahindra has secured approximately $400 million (around Rs. 3,325 crore) from Singapore’s Temasek and British International Investment, while TPG and Abu Dhabi state holding company ADQ invested $1 billion (roughly Rs. 8,312 crore) in Tata in 2021.
Anand Mahindra, the Chairman of Mahindra Group, has stated that the company plans to list its electric vehicle (EV) unit, but not before 2029, emphasizing the need to demonstrate significant success in the electric vehicle business.
Regarding Tesla’s interest in setting up a factory in India, the company has proposed doing so but has also sought lower import taxes for electric cars. India is reportedly working on a new policy to reduce import taxes on EVs to as low as 15 percent for companies committing to local manufacturing. However, concerns have been raised within the Indian industry about potential risks to the fundraising of local EV companies, as Tesla’s entry could impact the stability and favorability of the import tax regime.