Centre to promote India as global auto testing hub, scraps duties upto 250% on cars, parts  

With this, Indian test centres will now be able to compete with global players like MIRA and MILBROOK of UK, DEKRA of Germany, CATARAC of China, JARI of Japan VRTC of Taiwan, sources in the MHI said.
Image for representational purpose only.
Image for representational purpose only.

NEW DELHI: The government has scrapped major tax burdens, the net duty of over 250 % on cars and several components imported for accident impact and endurance trials and also lifted restrictions on the import of certain classes of cars including the left-hand drive (LHD) vehicles to promote India as a global crash test hub for automobiles.

According to Mahendra Nath Pandey, Minister of Heavy Industries, in the recent budget announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the government has done away with major duty slabs of upto 252 % which were being levied on cars and components which were being imported into India for crash tests.

“Customs duty payable on import of vehicles was around 252 per cent of the declared values of the vehicles and components which included basic import duty freight and insurance and other charges which were making the test agencies non-competitive as far as attracting global business was concerned,” Pandey said while highlighting the decision.

The government's decision includes exemptions to tyres and parts. safety critical components, sub-systems of automobiles when imported by testing agencies notified by the government of India under Rule 126 of the Central Motor vehicles Rules (CMVR) for testing and certification of automobiles and their safety critical components.

The exemption list also includes LHD automobiles for testing purposes. Till now LHD vehicles were not allowed to be imported into India irrespective of requests for testing them at Indian centres.

The move stems from the fact that under the document - Vision 2047 of the Ministry of Heavy Industries, India aspires to make these testing centres world-class and centres of excellence and also to enable these centres to cater to global customers.

“In view of the high duty rates and restrictions Indian test centres, despite being world-class and competitive, were not able to attract business at par with the testing agencies UK, Germany, Japan and Taiwan; but the recent government decision will provide the Indian centres the edge in the global market,” Pandey said.

In the recent past the International Centre for Automotive Technology (ICAT), based in Gurugram Manesar, has been receiving requests for quotations (RFQ) from various overseas customers including vehicle manufacturers and Indian technical consultancy companies which provide engineering services to foreign customers for vehicle development.

Besides ICAT, testing agencies like the Automotive Research Association of India, Pune and others have regularly been receiving requests from domestic as well as international auto and auto component manufacturers to conduct crash tests, emission checks, road and track durability tests, tear-down and benchmarking of vehicles.

With this, Indian test centres will now be able to compete with global players like MIRA and MILBROOK of UK, DEKRA of Germany, CATARAC of China, JARI of Japan and VRTC of Taiwan, sources in the MHI said.

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