The Union Budget 2025 on Saturday proposed to fully exempt customs duty on lithium-ion battery scrap, lead, zinc, cobalt powder and12 more critical minerals. This move comes as a bid to boost manufacturing and job availability in the country.
Additionally, the government has proposed to add 35 capital goods for EV battery manufacturing in order to boost domestic manufacture of lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles (EVs).
While addressing the Parliament during the Union Budget speech, FM Sitharaman said, "To the list of exempted capital goods, I propose to add 35 additional capital goods for EV battery manufacturing and 28 additional capital goods for mobile phone battery manufacturing. "
Commenting on the development, Saket Mehra, Partner and Auto & EV Industry Leader, Grant Thornton Bharat said, "The Budget’s customs duty cuts on lithium-ion batteries, alongside the National Critical Mineral Mission, mark a key step in strengthening India’s EV ecosystem. Lower import costs will make EVs more affordable, while investments in domestic mineral exploration, battery manufacturing, and electrolyte production will drive long-term self-reliance."
"By fostering innovation, local manufacturing, and resource security, India is positioning itself as a global hub for sustainable transport, ensuring a competitive, resilient EV industry aligned with its Net Zero goals," he added.
The FM also announced support to domestic manufacturing of solar PV cells, EV batteries, electrolysers, wind turbines and grid-scale batteries through the National Manufacturing Mission.
"Given our commitment to climate-friendly development, the Mission will also support Clean Tech manufacturing. This will aim to improve domestic value addition and build our ecosystem for solar PV cells, EV batteries, motors and controllers, electrolyzers, wind turbines, very high voltage transmission equipment and grid scale batteries," FM Sitharaman said.
