Hyundai, Kia, Mercedes Benz, Volkswagen, Skoda interested in making EVs in India: Minister

Global automobile makers, including Mercedes Benz, Skoda-Volkswagen, Hyundai and Kia have shown interest in manufacturing electric cars in India, Union Heavy Industries Minister H D Kumaraswamy said

New Delhi: Global automobile makers, including Mercedes Benz, Skoda-Volkswagen, Hyundai and Kia have shown interest in manufacturing electric cars in India, Union Heavy Industries Minister H D Kumaraswamy said on Monday.

The said companies have expressed interest during the stakeholder discussions between the government and the industry regarding the ‘Scheme to Promote Manufacturing of Electric Passenger Cars in India’, the detailed guidelines for which were unveiled by the minister.

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While the scheme was notified on March 15 last year, its guidelines were issued on Monday. Officials said the window to apply under the scheme will open in a couple of weeks, and it remains to be seen which companies would actually go ahead and apply.

“Mercedes Benz, Volkswagen, Skoda, Hyundai, Kia all these companies have already shown interest,” Kumaraswamy told reporters here. To encourage the global manufacturers to invest under the scheme, the approved applicants will be allowed to import Completely Built-in Units (CBUs) of e-4W with a minimum CIF (cost, insurance and freight) value of USD 35,000 at reduced customs duty of 15 per cent for a period of 5 years from the application approval date.

Approved applicants would be required to make a minimum investment of Rs 4,150 crore in line with the provisions of the scheme. The window for receiving applications through the Notice Inviting Applications will be for a period of 120 days (or more). Further, the Ministry of Heavy Industries shall have the right to open the application window, as and when required, till March 15, 2026.