Aaditya Thackeray writes to Nirmala Sitharaman, suggesting that the import duty on electric vehicles be reduced

Aaditya Thackeray, Maharashtra's tourism and environment minister, penned a letter to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday, offering a few proposals for accelerating India's electric mobility revolution. In his letter, Aaditya Thackeray urged the Union Finance Minister to cut the import duty on electric vehicles (EV). "I want to underline that the transportation sector accounts for more than 20% of India's greenhouse gas emissions," Aaditya Thackeray wrote in his letter to the Finance Minister. It's also worth noting that India's mortality toll from air pollution issues in 2017 was around 23 million people.

We are also dependant on oil imports as a country. I am convinced that by implementing persistent and dramatic reforms in the EV sector, we will be able to address a significant chunk of the difficulties that our country is now facing. "Nirmala Sitharaman, the Maharashtra Tourism Minister, proposed that the concessionary rate be for a maximum of three years or a predetermined import limit "for any company intending to import automobiles for retail sale or import international standard components for constructing an EV."

He went on to say that the reduced rate could be offered in exchange for a fixed investment guarantee in India's auto supply chain or charging infrastructure, which could be in the form of customs revenue that the government would otherwise forego under the current tax regime, and that the investment guarantee could be assessed annually. "It should also be emphasised that the current tax scheme for importing CKDs, CBUs, and SKDs for electric vehicles is out of step with the EV ecosystem. Because each EV has its own framework, the assembly of EVs and ICE engine cars must be distinguished. As a result, given the early stages of EV manufacturing development, a broad-based standardisation in the customs code may not be viable "he added.

Image Courtesy: Twitter@AUThackeray