Challenge global players to invest in India's EV manufacturing, compete with us: M&M's Anish Shah

Anish Shah, MD & CEO, Mahindra Group

As the buzz on duty cut on imported Electric Vehicles (EVs) gets louder, Anish Shah, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (MD & CEO) of Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) Group, asserted that the company "has thrown the challenge" to global players to invest in the country and "compete with us".

Shah was responding to a query on the kind of impact it will have on homegrown players such as Tata Motors, Mahindra, etc., which are developing highly indigenised electric cars for the local market.

“We have demonstrated so far the ability to win and play with the best products in the marketplace. We have beaten all the global majors in India. We're making in India for the world now,” said Shah recently in a post Q2 earnings press meet.

New policy in the works

It was earlier reported that the central government is working on a new EV policy that would slash import taxes for global automakers, such as Tesla, which commit to some local manufacturing.

The report said that the proposed policy could enable companies like Tesla to import fully-built EVs into India at a reduced tax as low as 15 percent compared to the current 100 percent that applies to cars which cost above $40,000 and 70 percent for the rest.

Moneycontrol recently broke the news that Tesla was planning to import EVs to India directly from its German facility instead of shipping them from China due to the “ongoing geopolitical tensions” between both Asian countries.

“We would welcome all global players to come and invest in India and compete with us. So we would throw the challenge to them if you want to do it, come, invest in India, come compete with us, added Shah.

Meanwhile, M&M has reaffirmed its plans to invest over Rs 10,000 crore for building a dedicated facility for electric cars in Pune, Maharashtra. The Mumbai-based automaker has also lined up six electric SUVs, based on its born electric EV platform ‘Inglo’. The company forecasts 30 percent of its total sales to be derived from e-SUVs by 2027-end.

“India must attract all EV manufacturers to operate here, and if it means lowering import duties and taxes, it must do so. The ecosystem for EVs needs to develop at a quick pace, and that can happen only if the volume increases (domestic plus exports),” said Christie Fernandez, Founder of Sooorya EV Pte Ltd, which is working on purpose-built 8-seater electric MPV for sustainable last-mile mobility, in emerging markets.

“Unlike ICE vehicles, where India did not focus on exports, with EVs we need to focus on export markets too, and have policies that support it. Currently, even countries such as Mexico, Canada / Thailand / Turkey etc., export more than India,” added Fernandez.