On March 13, 2026, the Ministry of Heavy Industries tightened localisation norms for N2 and N3 electric trucks by amending the Phased Manufacturing Programme (PMP) under the PM E‑DRIVE scheme. The Gazette notification (S.O. 1331(E)) revises items 8, 9, and 10 of the PMP to phase in domestic assembly and manufacturing

On March 11, 2026, the Rajya Sabha Standing Committee on Industry said only 1,656,335 EVs had been incentivised under PM E‑DRIVE as of 31 January 2026, about 58.6% of the revised 2,826,634 target, with e‑trucks, e‑buses, and e‑ambulances still at zero and e‑rickshaws/e‑carts at just 3,602 units versus a 39,034 target

On March 10, the Union Cabinet approved changes to foreign investment guidelines for countries sharing a land border with India, relaxing rules for small, non‑controlling stakes and tightening timelines for approvals in specified manufacturing sectors.
Under the revised framework, “beneficial owner” will now be defin

On March 9, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas released a gazetted notification to invoke the Essential Commodities Act 1955. This order may be called the Natural Gas (Supply Regulation) Order, 2026. The Central Government has assessed that the ongoing conflict in the Middle East has resulted in the disruption

On March 2, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) launched an indigenously developed 30 kW Wide Band Gap (WBG)-based integrated drive system for electric vehicles, designed by C-DAC Thiruvananthapuram in collaboration with IIT Madras and Lucas TVS under the NaMPET programme. The motor–inverte

On February 12, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways notified a series of new mandatory safety devices for medium- and heavy-duty commercial vehicles, with key requirements coming into force between October 2025 and January 2028.
From 1 October 2027, trucks will need to comply with the revised brake performanc

On February 10, the Ministry of Heavy Industries informed Parliament that 26 accidents involving fire in electric vehicles were recorded in India over the last three years, out of 23,865 total accidents involving EVs captured on the eDAR portal since November 2022. The data shows 8 EV fire accidents in 2023, 9 in 202

On February 4, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways notified the Central Motor Vehicles (Fourth Amendment) Rules, 2026, via G.S.R. 112(E), further amending the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989. These rules bring in WLTP-based Bharat Stage VI (BS‑VI) emission standards for M1 vehicles and M2 vehicles up to 3,

On February 7, India and the United States agreed on a framework for an interim agreement on reciprocal trade that includes specific provisions for automotive and related industries. India will receive a preferential tariff rate quota for automotive parts currently subject to the United States tariff imposed under Pr

On February 3, 2026, the Minister of Coal and Mines informed the Rajya Sabha that India is stepping up exploration, mining, and value addition of rare-earth minerals. The Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research (AMD), a constituent unit of the Department of Atomic Energy, is conducting exploration al

On February 2, 2026, Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi spoke with President Trump and thanked him for reducing tariffs on Indian products to 18%. The tariff reduction was announced following the call between the two leaders. He expressed that he looks forward to working closely with Trump to take the India-US partner

On February 2, 2026, industry leaders across the automotive and mobility ecosystem welcomed Union Budget 2026-27. Piyush Arora, MD & CEO of Škoda Auto Volkswagen India, welcomed the policy stability and continued emphasis on manufacturing competitiveness, trade facilitation, including India-EU FTA progress, and SME g

On February 1, 2026, the Union Finance Minister of India in the Budget 2026-27 announced measures to strengthen India's electric mobility, electronics and energy transition value chains. The Budget extended basic customs duty exemption on capital goods used for manufacturing lithium-ion cells for batteries, supportin

On January 29, 2026, Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Steel, India, held bilateral talks with the Canadian Minister of Natural Resources to strengthen cooperation in critical minerals, clean mobility, and manufacturing.
India launched an incentive programme of USD 2 billion to create an indigenous Advanced Che

On January 27, following the signing of the India-European Union Free Trade Agreement, automotive industry leaders outlined implications for the sector. The FTA is expected to enable greater tariff certainty and a more predictable trade framework.
Skoda Auto Volkswagen India said the agreement will allow the introduc

On January 27, the president of the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) welcomed the successful conclusion of negotiations on a trade agreement between the EU and India.
It will support Germany as an export country and companies in the German car industry by gradually reducing tariffs on vehicles to 1

On January 27, 2026, Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Steel inaugurated the 19th edition of SIAT 2026, a three-day Symposium on International Automotive Technology, in Pune at PIECC. The event is organized by the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) in association with SAE International and SAEINDIA

On January 27, the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) welcomed the conclusion of negotiations for a free trade agreement (FTA) between the European Union and India. ACEA stated that it will greatly help European automobile exports enter a market of 4 million passenger cars that, until now, has been

On January 27, 2026, the Prime Minister of India and the European Commission President announced the conclusion of the India-EU Free Trade Agreement, which includes a carefully calibrated automotive liberalisation package. Car tariffs will gradually reduce from 110% to as low as 10%, while tariffs on car parts will b

On December 30, India's Ministry of Road Transport and Highways released guidelines for implementing the Battery Pack Aadhaar system, a digital identification framework for tracking electric vehicle batteries throughout their lifecycle. The system assigns a unique 21-character alphanumeric number (BPAN) to each batte