India-UK FTA: No tariff concessions for British EVs, hybrid cars priced below £40,000 on CIF basis

India-UK FTA: No tariff concessions for British EVs, hybrid cars priced below $40,000 on CIF basis

The Indian government has not provided any tariffs concession for British electric and hybrid and hydrogen passenger cars with a CIF (Cost, Insurance, and Freight) of below £40,000 through the free trade agreement.

Infact, no concessions have been given to any electric, hybrid and hydrogen-powered vehicles in the first five years of the agreement being operational with gradual tariff reductions kicking in on a quota basis from the sixth year onwards.

While, those with a CIF of £40,000 to £80,000 CIF will see a gradual decrease on tariffs starting from the sixth year since the agreement comes into force, and eventually dropping to 10 percent after 15-and-a-half years, according to documents from the UK government.

Britain and India signed a free trade agreement on Thursday during a visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, sealing a deal to cut tariffs on goods from textiles to whisky and cars and allow more market access for businesses.

For those UK cars in these categories priced above £80,000 on a CIF basis, India will drop tariffs to 40 percent from the sixth year onwards, further reducing to 10 percent after 15-and-a-half years.

While, Indian electric, hybrid and hydrogen cars with a CIF of below £20,000 and those above £20,000 and up to £80,000 will be granted a tariff rate quota by the UK from the sixth year onwards covering 17,800 of such vehicles.

This means tariffs on these number of specific cars will be eliminated by the UK.

This quota will gradually increase to 88,000 for these specific categories of cars after 15-and-a-half years.

Britain has not offered any tariff concessions for Indian electric, hybrid and hydrogen cars with a CIF of above £80,000.