Centre May Relax Import Rules for E-buses, Trucks

India's electric mobility push may get a breather. The ministry of heavy industries is planning to allow electric truck and bus makers to import traction motors fitted with rare earth magnets without losing incentives under the ₹10,900-crore PME-Drive scheme, two officials aware of the development said.

- Manas Pimpalkhare

However, any relief would be temporary, lasting only until China resumes rare earth magnet exports, one of the officials said, citing the recent thaw in relations between New Delhi and Beijing.

The policy tweak comes amid a supply crunch that threatens production.

Mint reported on 18 July that the Centre had tasked the Automotive Research Association of India (Arai) with assessing whether localization rules under the PME-Drive and the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for automobiles and auto parts should be relaxed, after appeals from the industry.

"Arai came back to us suggesting that the relaxation be given to electric trucks and buses. But not to two-wheelers and three-wheelers," said the other official cited above. Both officials spoke to Mint on the condition of anonymity.

Experts said the relaxation applies only to trucks and buses as the components in these larger vehicles-batteries, traction motors, power electronics, integrated chips, and advanced PCBs-are much harder to indigenize than those used in two- and three-wheelers.