- The government will launch a scheme to invite foreign companies through a transparent bidding process, to set up plants for manufacturing
- To make electric vehicles affordable, buyers will be provided with an additional tax deduction of ₹1.5 lakhs on interest paid on loans taken to purchase them
- The Government of India proposes to set up a National Research Foundation to fund and encourage scientific research in the country
- The Minister proposed setting up of 20 technology business incubators in 2019-20 under the Aspire scheme
The government plans to encourage adoption and skilling in technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), the internet of things (IoT), big data, 3D printing and virtual reality (VR), while simultaneously reducing India’s over-dependence on electronics imports by encouraging actual manufacturing.
The FM pointed out that the government will launch a scheme to invite foreign companies through a transparent bidding process, to set up plants for manufacturing semiconductors, solar photovoltaic cells, lithium cell batteries, solar electric charging vehicles, computer servers, and laptops.
They will also be provided with income tax exemptions. To make India a global hub for manufacturing of electric vehicles, the government has moved the GST council to lower GST rate on electric vehicles from 12 per cent to 5 per cent. To make electric vehicles affordable, buyers will be provided with an additional tax deduction of ₹1.5 lakhs on interest paid on loans taken to purchase them.
Other action plans
The Government of India proposes to set up a National Research Foundation to fund and encourage scientific research in the country. The Minister also proposed setting up of 20 technology business incubators in 2019-20 under the Aspire scheme.
Also, to encourage of use of sustainable energy, a program for scaling up the use of LED bulbs at a mass scale was taken up. Approximately 35 crores LED bulbs have been distributed under the Ujala Yojana, leading to an annual cost saving of₹18,341 crores.
The government envisages making India free of incandescent bulbs and CFLs and is working on encouraging the use of solar stoves and battery chargers.
