BHEL in talks with US company to make batteries for electric vehicles

Heavy Industries Minister Anant Geete on Friday disclosed that public sector electric equipment maker Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) is in talks with a US-based company to form a joint venture in India to manufacture lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles (EVs). Right now, we are importing 100 per cent of our lithium-ion battery requirements, but efforts are on towards manufacturing them in India within the next one year,'' Geete said. BHEL comes under the administrative control of ministry of heavy industries. Lithium-ion batteries, which are a key component used in electric vehicles, are mostly imported from China at present. Geete also said that the Department of Heavy Industries has recommended to the finance ministry that customs duty on parts of electric vehicles (EVs) should be reduced. Now, the finance ministry has to take a decision on it, he added. Senior officials in the heavy industries ministry earlier said that it has proposed reducing customs duty on EV parts, which are currently not exempted from the import tariff to the Department of Revenue. To boost production of EVs in the country, the ministry has also suggested defining semi-knocked-down and completely-knocked-down kits used for assembling such vehicles for streamlining of customs duty. ref: https://www.indiatoday.in/mail-today/story/bhel-talks-us-company-make-batteries-electric-vehicles-1415032-2018-12-22