NEW DELHI: Chinese electric vehicle (EV) giant BYD said on Tuesday that they are not applying for benefits under the new EV policy which was introduced earlier this year by the central government to attract global brands, particularly Tesla.
“Representatives of our company, who have a good idea about that policy went in, went through that. The final conclusion... is that we have decided that, no, we are not ready to implement this policy in the short term. So, we are not applying,” said BYD India Head of Electric Passenger Vehicles Business Rajeev Chauhan.
Under the new EV policy, foreign carmakers will be allowed to import a limited number of cars at a lower customs/import duty of 15% on vehicles costing $ 35,000 and above for five years. The carmaker, however, will have to commit a certain amount of investment and meet localisation norms among other things.
When asked about the automaker’s intention to set up a local manufacturing unit in India, Chauhan said that having a facility gives some advantages, but BYD India is not there yet. “We are, I can confidently say that in the short term, we are not doing that,” he added.
According to reports, BYD is keen on making cars in India but is yet to receive positive feedback from the Indian government. BYD, in partnership with an Indian firm, last year submitted a $1 billion investment proposal to build EVs in India.
However, the proposal remains stuck given India has increased scrutiny of investments from China following a border clash between the troops of the two nations in 2020.