Policy Watch: New EV Scheme, MSME Subsidy, Creative Response To Plastic Waste

New EV Scheme To Attract Global Giants, Local Disruptors

India is making rapid strides in the global EV race and shifting gears quickly. In that quest, the central government has unveiled another scheme to promote the manufacturing of electric passenger cars in India.

The initiative is synchronised with India’s long-term goal of achieving Net Zero by 2070. Sustainable mobility, economic growth, and reduction of environmental impact are the cornerstones of the initiative.

The Ministry of Heavy Industries has now unveiled the “Scheme to Promote Manufacturing of Electric Passenger Cars in India”. The incentives provided are tantalising. Imported electric four-wheelers with a minimum CIF (Cost, Insurance, and Freight) value of US$ 35,000 will now go through customs at a reduced 15 per cent import duty for five years.

There is a caveat: The beneficiary carmaker must commit a minimum investment of Rs 4,150 crore (approximately US$ 500 million) and set up shop in India within three years of availing the benefit. There is no upper limit on maximum investment under the scheme.

A maximum of 8,000 electric four-wheelers will be permitted to be imported at the slashed duty rate. The carry-over of unutilised annual import limits is allowed under the scheme.

The maximum duty foregone will be the lower of the individual applicant limit (Rs 6,484 crore) and the committed investment of the applicant (minimum Rs 4,150 crore).

In other words, industry players are encouraged to invest more and benefit in terms of a total import duty waiver of Rs 6,484 crore.

This is rolling out the red carpet for global giants, as well as for the homegrown disruptors. The Indian EV race may get some new frontrunners very soon.

Help For Micro Entrepreneurs Towards Aatmanirbhar Bharat

The central government has just provided a springboard to close to 9,000 smaller entrepreneurs. The Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) has disbursed a significant Rs 300 crore in margin money subsidies to 8,794 aspiring entrepreneurs, under the Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP). 

KVIC operates under the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) of the Government of India. The amount of margin subsidy has been made against the sanctioned loan of around Rs 884 crore.

Southern India beneficiaries received Rs 80.26 crore for 2,445 projects, Central India’s 2,366 ventures pocketed Rs 91.13 crore. While the East and North-East together bagged Rs 62.68 crore for 2,167 projects, 1,320 North Indian projects bagged Rs 41.80 crore. Western India hasn't been left behind, having received Rs 24.12 crore for 496 projects.

The focus is clearly on self-employment and also on empowerment for smaller entrepreneurs of rural heartlands and urban sprawls.

Since it began its journey, PMEGP has created more than 10 lakh micro enterprises, sanctioned Rs 73,348 crore loans, and created more than 90 lakh direct and indirect jobs.

This monetary help has been disbursed through a virtual programme. Recognising the entrepreneurial skill of the common people, the initiative is meant to boost an Aatmanirbhar Bharat. This is a symbol of the government’s trust in its people.

MoHUA Fights Plastic On World Environment Day

On World Environment Day, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) reiterated its commitment towards ending plastic pollution through a series of impactful activities. Raising public awareness, acting positively, and creating long-term behavioural change are the motto of the ministry, as always.

The ministry mobilised citizens across cities against single-use plastic. Communities joined enthusiastically in various innovative programmes.

Plastic is a huge 46 per cent of total urban dry waste. More specifically, single-use plastics are difficult and costly to recycle, choke urban infrastructure, and endanger public health. So, the clarion call was: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle (RRR).

In cities across India, creativity flourished on June 5, World Environment Day. Women in self-help groups of “Thaila Bank” in Maharashtra's Mira Bhayandar transformed old clothes into reusable bags. Residents cycled with gusto on the streets of Pimpri-Chinchwad, pledging a plastic-free future.

Another self-help group in Chhattisgarh set up a “Didi Jhola Bank” in the local market. Almost 10,000 volunteers of Lucknow plunged into a massive river clean-up. The “RRR Slum Haat” of Indore distributed essential items to the needy, in the process encouraging shopkeepers to ditch plastic.

A longing for a greener future, particularly among the youth, was visible everywhere. The message is clear: There is no place for single-use plastics in a future, greener India.