Mahindra and Tata Motors Urge Officials Against Reducing Import Taxes for Electric Vehicles in Private Discussions.
Indian automaker Mahindra & Mahindra is emphasizing the need for a fair and balanced competition between domestic and foreign players in the electric vehicle (EV) sector, asserting that local manufacturing should be prioritized. Anish Shah, the Managing Director of Mahindra, disclosed that the company has communicated to the government, urging the creation of a level playing field. This comes in the context of New Delhi’s efforts to attract international car manufacturers like Tesla.
In confidential discussions, both Mahindra and Tata Motors have reportedly lobbied Indian officials to refrain from reducing the existing 100 percent import taxes on electric vehicles. The intention is to safeguard the interests of domestic firms and their foreign investors. This lobbying takes place as the government evaluates Tesla’s proposed entry into the Indian market. When questioned about Tesla’s potential entrance and the government’s plan to reduce import taxes, Anish Shah highlighted that Mahindra has made representations to Indian officials, advocating for a strategy that encourages global EV manufacturers to invest significantly 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.
Shah said Mahindra has plans to list its EV unit, but not before 2029 “because we need to be able to show significant success in that business.”
“For us, electric is the future,” he said.
Tesla has proposed setting up an Indian factory but also demanded lower import taxes for electric cars. India is working on a new policy to cut import taxes on EVs to as low as 15 percent for companies committing to some local manufacturing, Reuters has reported.
But that has worried the Indian industry with sources saying Tesla’s entry could risk future fundraising of Indian EV companies as they need a stable and favourable import tax regime.