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Government of India Revises Race Vehicle Import Policy
It is well known among motorsport enthusiasts in India why the organizers of Formula 1 decided not to return to India. It was because of the backward thinking policies set by the government which levied heavy taxes on the organizers of the Indian GP for the import of race cars.
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JP Group had to spend over INR 8 crores as import duty to get F1 race cars into the country as these cars were placed under the same category as any other car being imported and not as vehicles related to a sport. The cancellation of the Indian edition of MotoGP was also attributed to the same reason.
Earlier this week, however, the Directorate General of Foreign announced changes made to the existing policies which can only be termed as too little too late.
As per the revised policy race vehicles will be allowed to be imported without paying import duties. Instead, the importer will need to sign a security bond with the Customs under which racing machines will have to be exported out of the country within 30 days of the completion of the event.
Also, under the new policies, race vehicles will not be allowed to ply on roads outside the racing venue. The only shortcoming is that rally vehicles do not benefit from it as these events require the vehicles to travel on regular roads. Nevertheless, this is still a step forward and will hopefully bring back major motor sporting events such as Formula 1 and MotoGP to India.
"I welcome this decision by the Government to modify the import policy for cars and bikes for racing events. This move will hopefully pave the way for India to host many more world class international motorsport events. While we are positive about this move, we would also request for rallying vehicles to be included. Support from the government will be critical in order for us to host international events and this is a step in the right direction," outgoing FMSCI president Vicky Chandhok commented.
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