The Indian government intends to spend 4.6 billion US dollars to subsidize the country's electric vehicle battery production

Beijing time September 25 news, according to media reports, a government proposal shows that the Indian government plans to provide 4.6 billion US dollars in subsidies to encourage companies to build advanced battery manufacturing facilities. This promotes the use and popularization of electric vehicles in India and reduces dependence on crude oil. NITIAayog, a federal think tank led by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (Narendra Modi), drafted a government proposal, which includes that if electric vehicles can be popularized in India, the Indian government will be able to cut up to US$40 billion by 2030. Crude oil import expenditures. A senior government official who asked not to be named said that the Modi government's cabinet may evaluate the proposal in the coming weeks. The official was not authorized to comment on the matter and declined to give his name. NITIAayog and the Indian government did not respond to reporters' requests for comment. NITIAayog suggests that by 2030, the Indian government can provide US$4.6 billion in subsidies to companies that manufacture advanced batteries. The first step is to provide 9 billion rupees (approximately US$122 million) in cash and infrastructure subsidies in the next financial year, and then the subsidy amount will increase year by year. The proposal reads: “At present, the battery energy storage industry in India is still at a very early stage. Investors still have some concerns about entering this sunrise industry.” It also pointed out that the Indian government plans to transfer certain types of batteries (including The import tax rate for electric vehicle batteries will remain at 5% until 2022, after which the tax rate will be increased to 15% to promote the development of the local battery manufacturing industry. Although India is eager to reduce its dependence on crude oil and reduce pollutant emissions, the government's efforts to promote electric vehicles have been hampered by insufficient investment in infrastructure such as manufacturing and charging stations. Last year, the sales of electric vehicles in the second most populous country in the world were only 3,400, while sales of traditional passenger cars were as high as 1.7 million. The policy proposed by NITIAayog may benefit South Korea’s LG Chem (LGChem) and Japan’s Panasonic. In addition, the beneficiaries include Tata Motors, Mahindra and other automakers that have already started producing electric vehicles in India. The above-mentioned draft proposal also pointed out that the annual domestic demand for battery storage and market scale in India (the demand is currently less than 50 GWh, valued at just over 2 billion US dollars) may grow to 230 GWh in 10 years, worth more than 14 billion US dollars. The proposal does not provide forecast data on how many electric vehicles will be on the road in India by 2030. It estimates that with the support of government subsidies, related companies will spend about US$6 billion to build battery production facilities in the next five years. NITIAayog has been the promoter of several key policies of the Indian government, including the privatization plan of a series of state-owned enterprises.