The government on Friday approved an electric-vehicle policy, under which duty concessions will be given to companies setting up manufacturing units in the country with a minimum investment of $500 million, a move aimed at attracting major global players like US-based Tesla. According to an official statement, the companies setting up manufacturing facilities for e-vehicles will be allowed to import a limited number of cars at lower customs duty. The policy seeks to promote India as a manufacturing destination for EVs and attract investment from reputed global EV manufacturers, it added.
Almost all of these companies either unveiled their new electric vehicle or alternative energy-powered models.
The plant is now running at full capacity and is able to produce 50 lakh masks and three lakh bottles of disinfectants per day.
This year's edition, three years lost to the pandemic and scheduling, wore a distinctive shade of green, and, as would befit an era of technology shift from internal combustion engines to electric motors, had a clutch of high-technology exhibits and concepts. But the excitement of the expo's heyday was missing.
Christopher Wood, global head of equity strategy at Jefferies has rejigged his equity portfolios. In his Asia ex-Japan long-only portfolio, he has added Axis Bank (5 per cent weightage) and increased holding in Larsen & Toubro (L&T) by one percentage point. This, Wood said, will be paid for by removing the investment in ICICI Lombard General Insurance and reducing the investments in HDFC Bank and Reliance Industries (RIL) by one percentage point each.
The share of foreign companies in private sector investments, directed towards building new factories and other facilities, has declined over the past six months. A mix of large domestic announcements and relatively lower growth in foreign capital expenditure (capex) plans have played a role, although foreign investments remain near record levels. The share of foreign companies in the overall private sector investments over the four quarters ended June 2023 has dipped to 14.9 per cent, as shown by a Business Standard analysis of data from the project tracker Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy.
India's flagship motor show Auto Expo 2023 kicked off on Wednesday with the global unveiling of Suzuki Motor Corporation's concept electric SUV 'eVX' which is slated to hit the market by 2025. The company's Indian arm Maruti Suzuki India is among the major manufacturers participating in the show that has returned after three years. The Concept eVX is a mid-size electric SUV concept designed and developed by Suzuki Motor Corporation (SMC), Japan. It will be powered by a 60 kWh battery pack offering up to 550 km of driving range on single charge.
Amazon has reclaimed the top spot as the world's most valuable brand despite its brand value falling 15 per cent this year from $350.3 billion to $299.3 billion, said a new report. According to brand valuation consultancy Brand Finance's report, "Global 500 2023", while Amazon is back at No 1, its brand value has fallen by over $50 billion this year, with its rating slipping from AAA+ to AAA. This is as consumers evaluate it more harshly in the post-pandemic world. Brand Finance's research has found that perception of customer service at Amazon has fallen - at the same time as delivery times have lengthened.
Many of these companies have a waiting period from 6-18 months now, indicating a rise in demand.
Apart from bringing new suppliers on board, Xiaomi is also hoping to take advantage of the newly launched PLI scheme that offers incentives on incremental production of smartphones with 2020 as the base year.
At Prestige Polygon Towers in Chennai's Teynampet, hectic preparations are on for a mega global investors' meet under the aegis of Guidance Tamil Nadu (the state investment promotion agency) scheduled for January 2024. Asked about the key focus areas of the meet, the agency's managing director and chief executive officer, V Vishnu, said the state was betting big on electric mobility. This is no surprise, given that the state has signed electric vehicle (EV)-related memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with several companies in the recent past that may bring in investments worth around Rs 33,000 crore with the potential to create over 43,000 job opportunities.
The new mantra was to align Apple's ambition with the government's, focusing on Modi's favourite themes of Make in India, employment generation and India as a high-tech export hub.
Chinese players form a major part, around 20 per cent of the auto expo this year, despite a slowdown in the Indian automobile sector in the last one year. Over two dozen top officials from various companies were planning to participate in the event, besides a group of journalists.
Home-grown companies, including electronics manufacturing services (EMS) firm Dixon Technologies and mobile device maker Lava International, have started exploratory talks with Chinese sub-assemblies and component players for setting up joint ventures (JVs) in the country. Sources in the industry say many domestic companies have also had preliminary discussions with original design manufacturers (ODMs) in China to look at a JV model for manufacturing smartphones. Key ODM players in mobile devices in China include Longcheer, Huaqin, and Wingtech, which has already set up a plant in Tirupati.
The company is planning to invest Rs 1,100 crore in the new mobile phone manufacturing facility.
It's bullish on electric vehicle segment as govt is keen to buy around 20-25k electric vehicles
Take a look at some of the stunning cars on display at Auto China show.
China's automobile industry has been the largest in the world in terms of automobile unit production since 2008.
China's largest commercial vehicle manufacturer, Beiqi Foton, is understood to be considering setting up a greenfield facility in India shortly.
Market research firm GfK Automotive's Barometer of Automotive Awareness and Imagery Study found that Chinese and Indian auto-makers could face a similar purchase consideration curve to Korean vehicles when they launched in the US.
The Beijing Auto Show 2010 saw as many as 800,000 people visiting the exhibition, with as many as 990 cars from various global manufacturers on display.
Take a look at these dazzling cars of the future.
The number of participating automakers has fallen from 50 in 2018 to 30 this year. The count of exhibitors, including technology companies, has come down from 119 to 112. And showstopper luxury and supercar brands, including Toyota, Jeep, Lamborghini, Porsche, and Volvo will be missing. Similarly, the commercial vehicle makers also gave the show a miss -- a prolonged economic slowdown has dented their fortunes and near chances of any recovery.
'One out of three phones sold in India is a Xiaomi phone.'
Xiaomi plans to bring global component suppliers to India and this could potentially bring investment of at least Rs 15000 crore
The electric vehicle market in India needs a policy push that goes beyond targets, says Vandana Gombar.
Experts attribute the high valuation of Indian auto makers to the faster growth in India compared to the rest of the world.
Tax problems and unfavourable WTO agreements are making Tamil Nadu's electronics corridor less attractive to companies.
Components manufactured in India are low-value products like casing and box packaging that constitute 5% of the bill for materials required in phone manufacturing.