India to open flagship EV making policy to lure global giants
Live Events
(You can now subscribe to our
(You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel
India is set to open applications for its flagship policy offering lower import duties to global electric vehicle makers in exchange for manufacturing in India, people familiar with the matter said.The policy, that was announced in March 2024, offers to slash duty to 15% on any imported electric car priced from $35,000 if they invest at least 41.5 billion rupees, or about $500 million, to set up a local plant within three years. Up to 8,000 cars yearly can be imported at this reduced rate.Applications for this may open as early as this month and extend till March 15 next year, according to people familiar with the discussions who did not want to be named.The third-largest Asian economy is seeking to lure EV makers like Elon Musk-led Tesla Inc., which is gearing up to start selling its cars to India after criticizing the country's high duties regime for years. India is still a market hotspot for EVs while demand is mellowing in other parts of the world. The new policy, if it draws industry giants, will also intensify competition for local automakers who currently dominate the EV segment.While the broad outline is in line with what was announced last year, the people added that certain conditions have been tightened now with the Narendra Modi government to weed out non-serious players.India has increased financial eligibility, mandating minimum revenue requirement of 50 billion rupees in the fourth year and 75 billion rupees a year later for any applicant approved under the policy. Those falling short will face a penalty of up to 3% on the revenue gap.India's Ministry of Heavy Industries did not immediately respond to an email seeking comments.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
3 hours ago
- Time of India
Now, locals in tourist areas allowed to open homestays
Lucknow: As part of its strategy to boost tourism and pilgrimage infrastructure, the Yogi Adityanath-led Cabinet on Tuesday approved the Uttar Pradesh Bed and Breakfast and Homestay Policy-2025. "The policy aims to provide more accessible and comfortable accommodation options for devotees and tourists visiting the state's religious and tourist destinations," said principal secretary, tourism, Mukesh Meshram, adding that the initiative addresses a long-standing issue of accommodation shortages during peak travel seasons at prominent sites. "It is common for hotels at major religious and tourist destinations to be fully booked, leaving visitors with limited or no lodging options. The new policy seeks to resolve this challenge by enabling local residents to offer homestay accommodations," he said. Under the policy, any individual residing in proximity to a religious or tourist site will be allowed to register a homestay unit consisting of one to six rooms, accommodating a maximum of 12 beds. Tourists can avail of the facility for up to seven consecutive days, with provisions for extension through a renewal process. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Amazon CFD : La clave para un ingreso extra (Conoce más) Empezar ahora Registrarse Undo The registration and approval of homestays will be overseen by a committee headed by the district magistrate and superintendent of police to ensure safety and compliance. Only a small fee will be charged to register homestays in rural areas—ranging from Rs 500 to Rs 750. For urban and silver-category homestays, the application fee has been set at Rs 2,000. Lauding the policy in the cabinet briefing, the state's finance minister, Suresh Khanna, said, "Due to Uttar Pradesh's rich cultural heritage and historical sites, the state is already a major attraction for both domestic and international tourists. However, until now, there was no state-level policy for homestays which will help in formalising facilities for the tourists and pilgrims." Adding that the policy also includes financial support and incentives to encourage residents to offer part of their homes for tourism purposes, Khanna further said, "This policy will not only help provide affordable and convenient accommodation to tourists but will also create new income and job opportunities for local people. Overall, it is expected to strengthen the state's economy and tourism infrastructure. " Tourism department officials also revealed that as a result of the lack of a policy framework, homestay operators registered on the central govt's NIDHI+ portal. With the new policy, they can now register easily by getting a no-objection certificate (NOC) from local authorities.
Hindustan Times
3 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
US-backed Gaza aid group names evangelical as chairman
* GHF says it has delivered some 7 million meals in Gaza * UN refuses to work with GHF, says aid distribution militarized * Israel accuses Hamas of stealing aid, Hamas denies it UNITED NATIONS, - The U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation on Tuesday named as its executive chairman an American evangelical Christian leader who has publicly backed President Donald Trump's proposal for the United States to take over the Palestinian enclave. The appointment of Rev. Dr. Johnnie Moore, a former evangelical adviser to the White House during Trump's first term in office, came as health officials said at least 27 people died and more than 150 were injured trying to reach a GHF aid site. "GHF is demonstrating that it is possible to move vast quantities of food to people who need it most — safely, efficiently, and effectively," Moore said in the foundation statement. "GHF believes that serving the people of Gaza with dignity and compassion must be the top priority." The GHF began operations one week ago under a distribution model criticized by the United Nations as the militarization of aid. The GHF says so far it has given out seven million meals from so-called secure distribution sites. It uses private U.S. security and logistics companies to get aid into Gaza. The U.N. and aid groups have refused to work with the GHF because they say it is not a neutral operation. U.N. aid chief Tom Fletcher has said it "makes aid conditional on political and military aims" and uses starvation as "a bargaining chip." The appointment of Moore could fuel U.N. concerns, given his support for the controversial proposal Trump floated in February for the U.S. to take over Gaza and develop it economically. After Trump proposed the idea, Moore posted video of Trump's remarks on X and wrote: "The USA will take full responsibility for future of Gaza, giving everyone hope & a future." 'BAD GUYS' The U.N. did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the appointment of Moore, who has accused the U.N. of ignoring "bad guys" stealing aid in Gaza. The U.N. has long-blamed Israel and lawlessness in the enclave for impediments getting aid into Gaza and distributing throughout the war zone. Israel has long accused Hamas of stealing aid, which the group denies. In a reference to the new GHF-led aid model, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week said Israel was "taking control of food distribution" in Gaza. "The @UN & others should clean up their act & work with America," Moore posted on May 26. "Surely, these old U.S. & E.U.-funded humanitarian orgs won't let people starve in exchange for being 'right' when they know what they have done hasn't worked & has, in fact, made a terrible war worse?" The war in Gaza has raged since 2023 after Hamas militants killed 1,200 people in Israel in an October 7 attack and took some 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies, and Israel responded with a military campaign that has killed over 54,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities. Moore visited Israel about three months after the 2023 Hamas attack and wrote: "Never have I seen such horror." Just a couple of weeks later, he posted a video titled "Come visit beautiful Gaza," which sought to portray Gaza as a tourist destination if it wasn't for Hamas militants. Trump has said Gaza has the potential to be "The Riviera of the Middle East." The United Nations has long endorsed a vision of two states living side by side within secure and recognized borders. Palestinians want a state in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza Strip, all territory captured by Israel in a 1967 war with neighboring Arab states.
Economic Times
3 hours ago
- Economic Times
Banks park big money with 'rival' mutual funds
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel Much of the debate in the banking industry in 2024 revolved around why the deposits growth was extremely muted in relation to the growth in credit. Some blamed it on mutual funds, some on gold and others on derivatives trading by individuals. But the truth was a lot more 2025, Indian financial markets are seeing something that they don't see often. Banks, which, forever, used to seek deposits or borrow from the market to lend are doing something strange: they are pouring funds into mutual funds which, partly, compete with them for a share of the investor's mutual fund investments jumped 91% on year to ₹1.19 lakh crore as on March 21, 2025, from ₹62,499 crore a year earlier, data from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) bulletin showed. Banks' MF investments had grown 28% in the previous fundamental business of banks is to lend to individuals who are keen to buy homes and cars, or to those entrepreneurs and companies which are looking to put up plants or set up services business. But they seem to be keen on giving funds to MFs instead of directly lending to borrowers. Why is it?There may be two reasons for that-one, that there is not much demand for loans from banks, and second, that they are suddenly finding themselves with surplus funds because of what the monetary authorities are doing."Besides suboptimal credit growth, bank investments in mutual funds schemes have gone up due to surplus liquidity conditions, favourable market conditions and relatively faster execution," said Vinod AN, general manager and treasury head at South Indian Bank Banks loans grew 12.1% in FY25, down from 16.3% a year earlier. This is probably due to slowing income growth and uncertainties on the jobs front for many. This situation is the opposite of what was the situation in the year before when loans grew 16.3%, and deposits were at 12.9% growth. This led to a lot of debate about whether there is a behavioural shift in savers."Households and consumers who traditionally leaned on banks for parking or investing their savings are increasingly turning to capital markets and other financial intermediaries," said former RBI governor Shaktikanta Das. "While bank deposits continue to remain dominant as a percentage of financial assets owned by households, their share has been declining. Households are turning to other avenues for deploying their savings instead of banks." While individual behaviour was part of the problem, there was also a monetary phenomenon at work. The RBI, which wanted to tame inflation kept the monetary conditions tight, forcing banks to borrow from it or the market. But that has since changed to accommodative from banking system is in surplus at ₹1.5 lakh crore. Banks probably have more than what they need to meet the loans are parking excess funds with MFs. Are they buying shares? Or, are they doing SIPs? Neither. They know that this is a short-term issue. They are also doing something to earn higher short-term returns. "Most investments are in liquid and money market schemes, which is also reflected in the MF investment numbers where investments are in zero risk short-term debt instruments such as T-bills where returns are higher," said Venkat N Chalasani, CEO, Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI).
