Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal visits Tesla plant in US as govt mulls duty cut on EVs

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, November 14

Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal visited the Tesla factory unit in Fremont and interacted with the senior executives of the Tesla group on Tuesday amidst reports that the government is considering tax breaks on imported electric vehicles (EV) at the request of the owner Elon Musk when he met Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his US visit in June.

Goyal is in San Francisco to attend the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) for Prosperity and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum. India is a member of the former and observer of the latter. IPEC is supposed to develop alternative linkages while excluding China. APEC is a much older organisation of which China is a member and will be represented by its President Xi Jinping at the leaders’ meeting in San Francisco.

Musk had informed Modi that tax breaks would facilitate Tesla’s plans to set up its sixth factory in India with the first product to be an economically priced EV called “Model 2”. At present, India imposes 70 per cent import duty on all vehicles costing below $40,000 and 100 per cent duty on more expensive vehicles.

The policy to lower tariffs for EVs, however, is being finessed in the government as it has other implications including for the domestic industry as well as for the FTA being negotiated with the UK.

Goyal also held meetings with United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai and South Korean Trade Minister Dukgeun Ahn whom India has been petitioning for a revision in the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement. Goyal also met the Singapore Trade Minister Gan Kim Yong.

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