Will India's Union Budget 2022 live up to the expectations of EV industry?

India's Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Budget 2022-23 on Tuesday (February 1) with different sectors hoping that the government would give some relaxation in taxation, providing ease of doing business amid onslaughts of coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. 

Health and education are some of the sectors that are expecting significant announcements... so is the electric vehicle (EV) sector. 

Amid the climate crisis, the EV sector can promise a future that is cleaner and the government needs to promote the benefits of electric vehicles. But there is a range of issues that the industry is facing. Here are some of the expectations that the EV sector from the Budget 2022-2023. 

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The sector would expect the government to create a robust infrastructure that supports the electrification of large vehicles and feasible charging infrastructure. 

The industry would expect tax relaxations and would also hope that the government would give a boost to local manufacturing of battery technology, access to raw materials, skilled labour, etc. It is also a task for the government to speed up the battery cell localisation in the country. 

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The manufacturers might also expect to reduce dependency on imports. The sector also needs attention over the inverted duty structure as experts have revealed that the imported components are not strictly as per the Indian conditions. 

Sitharaman would use the Budget as the cornerstone to put the economy on an accelerated growth path after the impact caused by the pandemic. 

It is expected that there will be amendments in the tax law to bring about sustainable growth, infrastructure investment, focus on R&D spending, nurturing incentives to the core sectors. 

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Deepak MV, who is the CEO and co-founder of Etrio was quoted as saying by India-based news channel ABP: "At a time when EV adoption is gaining unprecedented momentum despite many challenges, in the upcoming Union Budget 2022, we at Etrio would like to see the finance minister address the critically-important area of making a wide and varied range of financing options available for EV commercial vehicles' buyers – as this is extremely critical for further increased uptake of EVs in India, going forward."  

(With inputs from agencies)