INDIA NEWS
June 16-30, 2022 - Vol 2, Issue 23
MAKE IN INDIA
Make in India: Investment opportunities As world economies restart their engines in a bid to regain lost ground due to the Covid-19 pandemic, India too shows signs of economic buoyancy and promise. India’s Make in India initiative holds a key to the global economic revival, something that should interest Australian government ministries, corporate sector, entrepreneurs, institutions seeking R&D collaborations and Australia Inc in general, among others. India assumes greater importance as several major world economies including American, Japanese, German, British and South Korean look to move out and diversify their businesses from China. India has jumped to 63rd rank in the World Bank’s Ease of Development 2020 report, and has also been ranked as the 9th largest recipient of Foreign Direct Investment destination in 2019 by the World Investment Report 2020 of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
India’s journey towards becoming a major domestic EV hub By Ishita Sirsikar and Srijata Deb Strategic Investment Research Unit (SIRU)
The country’s determination to achieve a smooth transition to a green and cleaner economy has witnessed significant fervour. Significant emphasis has been laid on the transition to a carbon neutral economy and the emergence of Electrical Vehicular (EV) systems. This is the foundational step in going beyond the ‘end of pipe’ solutions to control carbon emissions and initiating efforts to prevent vehicular pollution in the country. The upcoming projects and investments in this regard are envisaged to produce significant results in the country, in addition to encouraging good practices to reduce polluting effluents. This pivot to clean mobility has become the need of the hour, considering the focus on climate change and building sustainable development goals. In the recently released World Air Quality Report 2021, 35 out of 50 cities with the worst air quality were from India. In this context, the need for heavy reliance on carbon-neutral public transport by the residents, the promotion of electrical vehicles for personal and/or commercial purposes and the need to adopt other relevant cleaner mobility practices remain at the forefront of several policy discourses. Thus, in particular for the electrical vehicular systems, the coming few years remain pivotal as the Centre targets to achieve at least 30 per cent of the on-road vehicles to be electric by 2030. Several schemes have been put in place to incentivise companies to build EVs and batteries locally, in order to boost supply and complement a myriad of benefits for EV buyers. The country has been doubling down on its EV ambitions, focusing on cultivating demand for EVs at the domestic forefront while also developing its own locally-produced EV manufacturing industry which could cater to this demand at home and of the neighbours. For instance, initially envisioned for three years, FAME-II got a twoyear extension in June 2021 owing to a number of factors including the pandemic. It aims to support 10 lakh e-two-wheelers, 5 lakh e-three-wheelers, 55,000 e-fourwheeler passenger cars and 7,000 e-buses. As a part of this, the government has made a push for indigenous manufacturing with a number of automakers answering
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the call. While e-two-wheelers and e-four-wheelers receive significant coverage, the threewheeled EV is an emerging key player in the market. Three-wheeler EVs, such as e-autos and e-rickshaws, currently account for over 65 per cent of all EVs registered in India and cater to the huge demands of public transportation in the country. Two-wheeler EVs, on the other hand, are a distant second, accounting for over 30 percent of registrations, while passenger four-wheeler EVs account for only 2.5 per cent, as highlighted by NITI Aayog. Furthermore, the EV registrations data for various states highlight that Assam, Bihar, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal account for close to 80 percent of all e-three-wheeler registrations, with U.P. accounting for close to 40 percent of all registrations. Of these five states, Assam, Delhi, U.P., and West Bengal have formalised EV policies while Bihar has a draft policy with a final policy due to be introduced later in 2022. E-three-wheelers, such as e-rickshaws, are now a familiar sight in these States, having been created and manufactured locally. These cars, which cost between 1 lakh and 1.5 lakh and are made by a slew of local workshops and small businesses, have dominated the e-three-wheeler industry. Local manufacturers have created a truly Indian EV with its unique design suited to Indian commuter needs, thanks to financial aid from FAME-II. Legacy automakers have been struggling to compete with these local producers with their own e-three-wheeler solutions. These states’ EV regulations, implemented as part of FAME-II, have played a key role in encouraging this growth. The goal of these five states’ EV regulations is to increase consumer acceptance of EVs while also boosting local manufacturing. All five states offer a complete exemption from road taxes and registration fees. In some circumstances, Assam, Delhi, and West Bengal have tied incentives to battery size (in kWh), with extra benefits such as lower lending rates and scrappage incentives. The state of Uttar Pradesh has taken a different approach to subsidies, providing 100 percent interestfree loans to state government
employees for the purchase of electric vehicles in the state, as well as a 30 percent subsidy on the road price of electric vehicles to families with a single girl child. To encourage the sale of electric vehicles manufactured in the state, the state of Uttar Pradesh exempts all such vehicles from SGST. It has established incentives to encourage the manufacture of electric vehicles in the state. Bihar’s draught electric vehicle policy follows a similar pattern, focusing on uptake and manufacture. These states have done very well in the FAME-II initiative and are on track to meet the 5-lakh e-threewheeler target. India’s success in the e-threewheeler industry is due to the development of both the demand and supply sides. Subsidies, tax breaks, and zero-interest loans have all helped to boost demand for these vehicles. These vehicles provide a lowcost mode of transportation for millions of people, are simple to maintain, and have low operating expenses, making them extremely popular among operators. In comparison to its two-wheeler and four-wheeler counterparts, the indigenous design enables for easy local manufacturing in workshops and small businesses, as well as making them comparatively straightforward to charge and maintain. This success in the e-three-wheeler market has been difficult to reproduce in the e-two-wheeler and e-four-wheeler markets, which face demand and supply issues. Evidently, two-wheelers and four-wheelers are primarily associated with personal use, customers are understandably hesitant to accept such vehicles due to the challenges accompanying the models. The recent occurrences of e-scooter fires have further contributed to the fear. In India, finding dependable manufacturers with proven track records in the twowheeler and four-wheeler EV space is difficult. This exacerbates the supply shortage, and there are few economical options available to consumers. As a result, future practice must include suitable design and passenger safety criteria. For effective implementation, future EV policies must take into account existing and growing stakeholders on both the demand and supply sides. Source: Invest India, Government of India
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India to have ‘Blue Economic Policy’ soon: Jitendra Singh By Bhakti Jain and Srijata Deb, Strategic Investment Research Unit (SIRU)
it turns 100. Just as we have the Ministry of Earth Sciences, 20 years from now, we will have a Ministry of Ocean Industry,” he said.
New Delhi, June 8 (IANS): The government would soon unveil its “Blue Economic Policy”, Union Earth Sciences Minister Jitendra Singh announced on June 8. “An estimated 40 million people will be employed by ocean-based industries by 2030. The Deep Ocean Mission is the result of our ambition to explore the unlimited possibilities of the ocean. The mineral wealth which is hidden in the sea, the thermal energy which is in the sea water, can give new heights to the development of the country,” he said at an event to mark World Oceans Day at the Ministry headquarters here. “The R&D and exploration activities in the Amrit Kaal of the next 25 years will be an important hallmark of India’s economy when
Stating that trials for both the space and ocean manned missions have reached advanced stage and the unique feat will be achieved, most likely, in the second half of 2023, Singh said: “Sea trials of 500 metres rated shallow water version of the manned submersible are expected to take place in early part of 2023, followed by the MATSYA 6000, the deep-water manned submersible which will be ready for trials by the second quarter of 2024.” The Minister also interacted with academia, students, officials and common citizens who undertook coastal clean-up campaigns at nine maritime districts in Kerala and at Chennai beach. He lauded the efforts of Vice Chancellors, PRIs, and corporations for collecting single use plastic, electronic and medical scrap during the beach cleaning operations at 10 locations carried out to mark the World Oceans Day.
India aims to double marine product exports to Rs 1 lakh Cr in 5 years ensuring quality and variety, promotion of coastal shipping and aquaculture, and by supporting the entire fisheries ecosystem,” said Goyal, addressing the mediapersons at the Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA), Kochi. At the event, K.N. Raghavan, Chairman of MPEDA, presented a road map to achieve the export turnover of Rs 1 lakh crore.
New Delhi, June 7 (IANS): India aims to double marine product exports to Rs 1 lakh crore in the next five years from the present around Rs 50,000 crore, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Food & Public Distribution and Textiles Piyush Goyal has said. He was speaking at an event in Kochi on June 6. “This target will be achieved through sustainable fishing,
Goyal further said that the Free Trade Agreements have been finalised with the UAE and Australia, while negotiations are in progress for such an agreement with the UK and Canada. The minister said negotiations to reach an FTA with the EU will begin in Brussels on the 17th of this month. He assured interventions to minimise the hurdles on the import of raw materials for value addition so that India can be transformed into a seafood processing hub in the near future.
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