'For around five hours the storm, reportedly the strongest one ever recorded in the Bay of Bengal, that mother of many a deathly vortex, shook Kolkata like a toddler playing with a rattling toy,' observes Debashish Chatterjee.
Though startups find 17 mentions in the Budget speech of the finance minister, and have been promised tax exemptions, the reality is that only 2 per cent of the 4,648 applications received from startups for income tax exemption had been approved as of February 2019, according to an answer to a Parliament question. As India's startup space bubbles with activity - new, young players are tapping into opportunities opening up - there are local anti-portfolio stories circulating about investors missing opportunities in 'unicorns', or companies that have reached valuation of $ 1 billion, says Vandana Gombar.
While home-grown firms like Tata and Mahindra have been actively participating in the government's e-mobility mission, by launching electrified versions of their existing models, the global firms believe electric is not the best solution for a country where the primary source of power generation is coal, and where infrastructure is a big impediment.
Named ConceptFutureS, it is a uniquely styled compact car with distinct SUV like characters and will define the next generation of design for compact vehicles in India, the company said.
E-mobility is only one among the several fronts on which Mahindra is waging a battle of aspirations, to future-proof the $19-billion tractor-to-technology conglomerate, says Nikhil Inamdar.
Elon Musk's likely referring to waiver of 30% local sourcing norm for setting up single-brand retail
The lion's share of the amount -- Rs 1,003 crore (till November 10) -- comes from an Environment Compensation Charge (ECC) imposed by the Supreme Court in 2015 on trucks entering Delhi while the rest is made up of cess on every litre of diesel sold, in effect since 2008.
'Being one of the 150 million upper middle class consumers, I can vouch that the average expenses on white goods or clothing are minimal. Indians are not consumerist by nature,' says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
The investment will be made through a joint venture with Toshiba and Denso. The battery is the most expensive single part of an EV.
BMW also unveiled its electric car i3s and hybrid vehicle i8 Roadster along with a slew of other top-end models at the Auto Expo 2018.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday hiked tax on petrol and diesel, raised import duty on gold, levied additional surcharge on super rich and brought a tax on high value cash withdrawals as she sought to spur growth with reduction in corporate tax and sops to housing sector, startups and electric vehicles.
It expects the Indian market to grow to 10 million units annually by 2030 and it intends to control half the market then, like it does now.
A series of flip-flop on policies and a non-existent charging infrastructure are the biggest challenge in achieving the target of selling 6-7 million hybrid and electric vehicles by 2020.
The government has initiated a process to define standards and guidelines for electric charging stations.
The GST Council last year imposed a cess of 15 per cent on hybrid vehicles, in addition to the 28 per cent GST, leading to a total tax burden of 43 per cent against a previous tax rate of 28 per cent.
Tesla began taking orders for its $35,000 Model 3 sedan from Indian customers in April last year.
It's the same sourcing norms that have been a hurdle for multinationals such as Apple Inc in setting up retail operations in India.
The government has constituted a committee headed by NTPC Chairman Arup Roy Choudhury to study the proposal and submit a report in two months time.
Niti Aayog has come out with an initiative to improve governance in states.
While hybrids, CNG and biofuels found favour in 2018 among many carmakers including Maruti Suzuki, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota and Honda, others such as M&M and Tata Motors have shown full faith in electric vehicles.
Tesla began taking orders for its Model 3 sedan from Indian customers in 2016 and caught the fancy of people like GOQii's Vishal Gondal, Paytm's Vijay Shekhar Sharma and venture capitalist Mahesh Murthy. Amid hints from Elon Musk, Alnoor Peermohamed reports on Tesla's Indian entry.
The e2o is manufactured by Mahindra Reva Electric Vehicles.
If the drop in sales over the past two years is anything to go by, India's dream of putting seven million electric vehicles on road by the end of this decade has come a cropper.
The Finance Minister proposed a cess of 1 per cent on small petrol, LPG and CNG cars, 2.5 per cent on diesel cars of certain capacity.
Future strategy will not just revolve around EVs: Maruti Suzuki's Ayukawa. Maruti Suzuki's MD&CEO says electric vehicles cannot be a solution outside the cities.
M&M also showcased its new format next generation 'dealership of future' designed by Pininfarina.
Arun Jaitley presented the Budget in Parliament on Saturday.
Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari known for promoting innovative ideas in transportation, created a stir some time back when he pitched for 100 per cent electric mobility by 2030. In an interview with Megha Manchanda & Jyoti Mukul, he talks about the Central Road and Infrastructure Fund (CRIF) and electric vehicles.
The electric vehicle market in India needs a policy push that goes beyond targets, says Vandana Gombar.
'We are doing away with human interface in metering, billing, and collection.' 'That in itself will bring down losses by 50 to 60 per cent.'
Model 3 received 180,000 orders worldwide.
Ideas don't have border controls and visas.
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