NEW DELHI (Reuters) -India on Tuesday said there would be no import duties on several goods used to manufacture electric vehicle batteries and mobile phones amid broader tariff cuts to help local producers withstand the potential impact of reciprocal U.S. tariffs.
“We aim to boost domestic production and enhance export competitiveness by reducing duties on raw materials,” finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said ahead of a vote to pass Finance Bill 2025 in parliament.
India will exempt from import duty 35 items used to make EV batteries and 28 items used in mobile phone manufacturing, she said.
India has been preparing to mitigate the impact of U.S. President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs set to take effect from April 2.
The two countries are engaged in talks to resolve tariff issues and come up with a bilateral trade pact.
Reuters reported earlier on Tuesday that New Delhi was open to cutting tariffs on more than half of U.S. imports worth $23 billion in the first phase of a trade deal that the two nations are negotiating, citing two government sources.
Last week, an Indian parliamentary committee recommended that the government cut tariffs on the import of raw materials to support local manufacturers.
(Reporting by Shivangi Acharya, writing by Tanvi Mehta; Editing by Kirsten Donovan and Bernadette Baum)
