With that said, we urge the government to reduce GST on EV purchases and rentals from 5% to 2%. A reduced GST would allow consumers to smoothly shift to EV. The Finance Ministry can also reduce taxes levied on loans taken to purchase an EV. GST reduction and tax benefits would play a crucial role in making EVs accessible to everyone. Additionally, the government can also subsidise electricity pricing for EV charging to further improvise the existing EV charging infrastructure.”
Due to the inverted tax structure that currently exists (where EVs are taxed at 5% and battery packs alone at 18%). Several constraints are placed on new OEMs as well as the development of new models like Battery As A Service. While the nodal and state level delegation of charging station deployment and policies around that make the process faster, infrastructure spending support for DISCOMS to support EV charging will accelerate deployment of charging stations across the country. The government has rightly introduced the PLI scheme to foster domestic production of Li-ion cells but the time taken to set up a cell manufacturing ecosystem will take at least 3 to 5 years. In the interim, reducing the import duties on Li-ion cells would greatly benefit EV startups to make EVs affordable and spur consumer demand.”
Mr Avneet Singh Marwah, CEO, Super Plastronics Pvt Ltd, Kodak brand licensee said “We need to have a stable GST tax slab to boost Indian manufacturing and MSMEs sectors. The products should not exceed the 18% slab, as they now need to encourage consumerism to be able to improve market sentiments. With this move, India can become the world’s third-biggest market for televisions, leading to an estimated growth of 15% in the market size, increasing to up to 16 million units annually. We would like to urge the government not to change custom duties as if now, as the industry is moving towards a stable condition.
We would like to congratulate the Government for introducing a $10 billion PLI scheme for display panels and semiconductor chips. We would also request Financial Minister to have timelines for these projects and this. shouldn’t be restricted till the Memorandum of Understanding. This could be a pathbreaking move for the electronics sector.
We have seen a 10 times growth in sea fright in the recent past, along with that timeline have increased two times. There is a big syndicate in this sector, which is causing this delay, and as a result, causing a huge loss to the economy. The Government needs to take strict measures to control the same.
Government should consider lowering the tax rate on consumer electronics as this will encourage consumers to buy higher ASP products. This will also help in digital India, as consumers will opt for more tech products.”
We feel happy to be part of multiple platforms that increasingly see content creation and consumption. The print segment and the traditional content platform have been under pressure, and demand for digital content will only increase. Unfavourable steps from the government may dampen the enthusiasm. Similar headwinds are seen in eCommerce, with retail trade going digital. Physical barriers, such as lockdowns and restrictions, hamper the local stores. They are increasingly adopting the online route. Government’s stimulus to this sector will further boost its contribution to the economy.”
Agendra Kumar, Managing Director, Esri India, said, “The new Geospatial Data guidelines announced by the government was the first major policy change in decades and in order to derive full benefits from these guidelines, creating fresh data sets is very important. This can be done by government agencies under public-private partnerships as well as through the private sector, which can play a crucial role in the implementation of various government programs. And most importantly, focused investments through government schemes, is the need of the hour; hence, the upcoming budget should allocate funds for a period of 5 years for consumption by national mapping organizations like Survey of India and Geological Survey of India for updating existing data sets and creating new data sets, which will be an ongoing activity. The industry is also looking for a higher allocation of funds for the use of geospatial technologies in programs like Gati Shakti, Har Ghar Jal, and various other programs under the ministries of Jal Shakti, MoRTH, MoHUA. Geospatial data and technologies can help in more efficient execution, thus, it is important to expand the reach of GIS through sufficient funding support.”
We hope that the Design Linked Incentive (DLI) scheme that the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) announced last month for semiconductors is extended to other critical markets up the supply chain like motor controllers. The DLI Scheme offers financial incentives as well as design infrastructure support across various stages of development and deployment of semiconductor design for Integrated Circuits (ICs), Chipsets, System on Chips (SoCs), Systems & IP Cores and semiconductor linked design over a period of 5 years. The scheme is a welcome step by the government as it encourages enterprises to invest in Design and R&D capacity but additional policies and schemes will be required to ensure the success of the government’s plans for India’s semiconductor industry.
In particular, we are looking forward to the DLI scheme being expanded to include end product designs which utilise semiconductors (embedded systems) like motor controllers. Motor controllers are sophisticated electronic devices and are crucial components for applications like electric vehicles and consumer appliances. Ensuring thriving domestic industries for these components will provide critical support to India’s budding contract manufacturing ecosystem while also fuelling growth and innovation in these energy-efficient products. This will align with multiple strategic goals like AatmaNirbhar Bharat and the government’s EV targets for 2030 to name a few. Omer Basith: Co-founder and CEO: Virtual Forest.
