The Union Budget 2023–2024, which involves numerous notable declarations for India’s auto market that will support the e – mobility market, was revealed by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. The promotion of biogas production and clean mobility have all gained attention. Electric vehicle fuel cells are exempt from import taxes, despite a 10% increase in the customs duty on imported luxury vehicles and EVs to a whopping 70%. We contacted key EV players in the market and amassed a group response regarding the change. To promote greener cleaner energy the government exempted capital goods and machinery needed to manufacture lithium-ion cells that are used in the EV industry. The customs duties on lithium-ion batteries are reduced from 21 % to 13% in order to promote greener mobility. The subsidies on EVs have also been extended till next year. Government plans on EVs have undoubtedly created too many business opportunities. The startups and MNCs striving to make the globe a sustainable place to live will be inspired by an eco-friendly credit system.
Expressing thoughts on electric mobility in the Union Budget 2023-24, Here are some insights from industry experts:
Uday Narang, founder, and chairman of Omega Seiki Mobility said that the extension of the customs duty exemption for the manufacture of lithium-ion batteries and the removal of customs duty on imported machinery used to manufacture Li-ion batteries are welcome initiatives because they will help to increase demand for EVs.
Mr. Akshit Bansal, Founder & CEO of, Statiq said, The union budget 2023-24 will pave the way for the green empowerment of the country and reflects the progressive attitude of the government toward sustainable development. We welcome the vision of the government of India in establishing and boosting the focus on green growth. As India’s new budget envisions 7 priorities, green growth is among the top priorities of it. In its budget, the government has announced a large sum of Rs 35,000 crore to be allocated towards achieving the net zero goal and energy transition.
The government has set its target to reach green hydrogen production of 5 MMT by 2030. This will encourage the private sector involved in green renewable energy-based products to expand their business and invest more in the business of green energy. The government’s green growth efforts will help in reducing carbon impact, promote green alternatives and create space for employment. It will enable the use of green-based products at a larger scale among the common public. The government’s green signal to green growth will give an edge to companies like electric vehicle manufacturers to market their products and enhance the opportunities for industry players to cater to their target audiences. This will also help in meeting the carbon offset program of various companies in the green sector.”
Mr. Raghav Arora, Co-Founder & CTO, Statiq said, The big push for artificial intelligence in the union budget 2023-24 signifies that the government is ready to go on a large-scale technological ride. This decision is going to prove constructive for existing and emerging startups. The government’s announcement of setting up 3 centres of excellence for artificial intelligence (AI) to research and develop cutting-edge applications in India will be a major breakthrough for tech-involved companies.
These centres will be set up in top educational institutions where students will also learn new innovations in artificial intelligence, upskilling them to become experts in artificial intelligence and its related trends. It will create a space for potential employment opportunities as well. This move will cater to the government’s vision of ‘Make AI in India. Make AI work for India’. With the help of AI advancements, there will be an effective AI ecosystem in which companies can grow beyond expectations. In this system, leading industry players will contribute to conducting research and developing innovative solutions in different sectors.
Dilip Sawhney, Managing Director, Rockwell Automation India Pvt. Ltd said, “Rockwell Automation India welcomes the Union budget 23-24 proposed by Hon’ble Finance Minister, Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman.
We are delighted to note that government is steadfast on its agenda for creating enabling environment to achieve an all-encompassing, equitable and sustainable growth path for every individual and enterprise, through the prudent use of various fiscal measures as provided under the Budget.
While the overall spending thrust of the government across critical areas of education, healthcare, infrastructure, defence, and industries (particularly MSMEs and Startups) will energize the entire economic engine of the country, a conscious effort to interlace low-carbon/ green growth strategies for all sectors of the economy will create new-age green jobs for a large number of youths. This will not only help the country to progress towards its carbon-neutrality target of 2070 but also propel the nation to access emerging global opportunities in clean technologies.
For a technology company like us, which specialises in areas of industrial automation and smart manufacturing, it is most heartening to know that government plans to set up 30 Skill India Centres for implementation of Industry 4.0 in areas of 3D Printing, AI, IoT and Drones. This will create an immense opportunity to enhance such advanced technical skills among people working for manufacturers and automation industry players.
In addition, the creation of 3 CoEs for Artificial Intelligence will boost the futuristic vision of the government to ‘Make AI in India & Make AI Work for India’. Similarly, the government’s plan to leverage 5G technology in telecom; the creation of a National Data Governance Policy; the establishment of Central Data Processing Centres; and the creation of innovation centres for the Pharma and Medical Devices sector will go a long way.
To further boost the thriving EV ecosystem in the country and make domestic manufacturing of advanced chemistry battery cells more cost-effective, the exemption of customs duties on capital goods and equipment necessary for such production lines is a welcome step forward. This will make locally manufactured EVs more affordable for end-users, as the majority of EV cost is contributed by batteries. All of this holds great promise to catapult the country into technology-driven industrial growth over coming years.”
Sumit Chhazed, CEO and Co-founder, OTO said, ‘’ OEMs & EV stakeholders were overwhelmingly happy with the announcements made in support of e-mobility at Union Budget 2023. Green growth has been considered one of the seven sectors of priority and a slew of measures in support of EVs has been taken by the Government to achieve the ambitious target of net zero emissions by 2070. Key announcements made were the allocation of INR 35,000 crore to support green projects & others with net zero goals, viability gap funding for a Battery Energy Storage System and Rs 19700 crore allocated for the production of green hydrogen which can reduce the dependence on the import of non-renewable energy.
Additionally, one major challenge faced by OEMs was the custom duties on inputs for the manufacturing of lithium-ion batteries which has now been dealt with the exemption. This can further improve the value addition, reduce input costs and in turn, can correct the inverted duty structure further boosting domestic manufacturing and make India’s export competitiveness. Furthermore, FM also proposed to set up a transmission system in Ladakh for evacuation and grid integration of renewable energy.
Overall, the initiatives announced to make it clearly evident that e-mobility is a priority and the government is clearly heading towards making India a self-sufficient country giving more weightage to the Make in India scheme launched by our Hon Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014.‘’
Mr. Ankit Kumar, CEO, Skye Air Mobility said, “The budget for 2023 is forward-looking and focuses on enhancing talent development and training in digital skills. PMKVY 4.0 will definitely be a boon to bridge the gap, especially for the emerging technology sectors where skilled manpower is the biggest challenge.
The state-of-the-art on job training programs like coding, artificial intelligence, robotics, mechatronic, 3D printing, the internet of things, drones, and other soft skills will surely pave the way for India to lead the world in the technology sector. Alone drone sector in India to witness a demand of 1,00,000 trained drone pilots in next 2 years and we are hopeful that with the launch of PMKVY 4.0 and emphasis on new age skilling and training, this will be addressed adequately.
The healthcare sector was also a major focus of the budget. Leading business players will collaborate to perform interdisciplinary research, create cutting-edge apps, and find scalable solutions to issues in the fields of sustainable cities, agriculture, and health. Furthermore, three Centers of Excellence for Artificial Intelligence (AI) will be established in top educational institutions”
Visakh Sasikumar, CEO & Co-founder, Fyn mobility said, “This is undoubtedly a future-looking announcement which will help India to become one of the prominent players in the green hydrogen space and thus reducing the dependency on lithium. With the budget allocated to the energy transition, we will see a lot of businesses turning to EV fleets. A green credit system will ensure that the startups and MNCs who is working for making the planet a sustainable place to live are incentivized. The viability gap funding will ensure that new battery tech will get supported in the early days before it attains economies of scale. Customs exemption on capital goods and machinery for lithium batteries will reduce the per kilowatt-hour cost of batteries and thus accelerate EV adoption in both personal and commercial segments”
