India has followed the example of Korea,China,Japan,USA and others in providing a capital subsidy to promote the use of Green Transport in India.Note China and Korea have been very aggressive in providing support and subsidy to the Green Industry.USA has also been providing soft loans and capital grants for manufacturing to Electric Vehicles and Lithium Batteries besides spending millions of dollar in R&D.Obama wants the US to become a leader in Battery Manufacturing with a 40% Global Marketshare while China recently unveiled a plan to create national champions in the Green Car Industry.Japan has also been supportive of Hybrid and Electric Car Technology with Honda and Toyota looking to dominate this emerging Auto Category.
India has a fast growing automobile industry led by automobile companies like Mahindras,Tata Motors,Hero,Bajaj and others.These companeis have been making huge acquisitions outside India to acquire technology,scale and design expertise.However in the EV area,the Indian Car Industry remains weak though Mahindra recently bought the EV Indian startup Reva.A Strong Domestic Green Auto Industry is essential for the continued growth of domestic Indian automakers.Though the Subsidy Fund set up is small,it provides the right direction for the growth of the Indian vehicle industry where the use of SUVs was criticized by the Indian environment minister.
In a major boost to the Indian electric vehicles industry, the ministry of new and renewable energy ( MNRE) on Monday announced a 20 per cent financial incentive on the ex-factory price of electric cars and scooters sold in the country.According to the new scheme, manufacturers of electric vehicles will receive financial incentives of up to 20 per cent on the ex- factory price for each electric vehicle sold in India. However, the scheme also sets a maximum limit on the amount of the incentive at Rs 4,000 for lowspeed electric two wheelers, Rs 5,000 for high- speed electric two wheelers and Rs 1 lakh for an electric car.
The Reva electric car manufactured in Bangalore by Mahindra Reva Electric Company, which is priced in the range of Rs 3.31 to Rs 4.28 lakh across models, will now become cheaper by Rs 66,000 to Rs 85,000.Some of the eligibility criteria being imposed are – electric vehicles must have at least 30 per cent indigenous content, a sizable operation in retail and after sale service outlets and a multi- point check system for accounting the real retail sale.