Mumbai, June 3: The government on Monday notified guidelines for its forward-looking scheme to enable fresh investments from global manufacturers in the electric cars segment and promote India as a global manufacturing hub for e-vehicles.To encourage global manufacturers such as US tech giant Tesla to invest under the scheme, the approved applicants will be allowed to import completely built-in units (CBUs) of electric four-wheelers with a minimum CIF (cost insurance and freight value) of $35,000 at reduced customs duty of 15 per cent for a period of 5 years from the date that the application is approved. .
Approved applicants would be required to make a minimum investment of Rs 4,150 crore in line with the provisions of the scheme.
The maximum number of e-4Ws allowed to be imported at the reduced duty rate will be capped at 8,000 units per year. The carryover of unutilised annual import limits would be permitted.
According to the notification, the maximum number of EVs to be imported under this scheme will be such that the maximum duty foregone per applicant will be limited to Rs 6,484 crore, or the committed investment of the applicant of a minimum of Rs 4,150 crore, whichever is lower.
The Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) issued under the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for Automobile and Auto Component (PLI Auto Scheme) would be followed to assess the DVA of the eligible product as required under the scheme.
Certification of DVA of an eligible product manufactured in India by the approved applicant would be done by testing agencies approved by the Ministry of Heavy Industries.
Investment should be made for the domestic manufacturing of the eligible product. In case the investment under the scheme is made on a brownfield project, a clear physical demarcation with the existing manufacturing facilities should be made, the notification states.
Expenditure incurred on new plant, machinery, equipment and associated utilities, and engineering research and development (ER&D) would be eligible.
The expenditure incurred on land will not be considered. However, buildings of the main plant and utilities will be considered as part of the investment provided it does not exceed 10 per cent of the committed investment, the notification further states.