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India set to bring 4 armoured cars for foreign leaders
The four vehicles, imported to serve visiting foreign heads of state or government, have already arrived at the Jawaharlal Nehru Port in Mumbai
NEW DELHI: The government is importing four armoured Mercedes cars to serve visiting foreign heads of state or government for about 2.2 million euros, three officials aware of the development said, requesting anonymity.
“The four armoured vehicles are being procured from Daimler AG Germany for euro 2,178,672 and they will be used exclusively during incoming visits of VVIPs like foreign heads of government,” one of the officials said.
The external affairs ministry, which is the administrative ministry for organising visits of foreign dignitaries, has approached the finance ministry for the waiver of customs duty on the import of the four vehicles, a second official said.
Customs duty on a car as a completely built unit is 100% of its import value. As the value of the four Mercedes cars are approximately ₹20 crore in Indian currency, their total cost could have gone up to about ₹40 crore.
The protocol division of the external affairs ministry, which plays a key role in visits by foreign leaders, has a small fleet of Mercedes armoured limousines for use by visiting heads of state or government, the third official said. These vehicles have to meet a set of strict specifications, especially the level of armoured protection, and they have a specified life cycle, after which the ministry disposes of them and acquires new ones.
“When the Indian head of state or government travels abroad, the host country provides an armoured limousine for their use. Similarly, the Indian side provides such vehicles for the use of visiting foreign leaders,” he said. “The ministry has this fleet so that we are sure the vehicle is coming from a controlled or trusted source, an important factor when it comes to the security of foreign leaders. That wouldn’t be the case if the vehicles were hired from a private source.”
The ministry recently floated a tender to dispose of some of its older limousines and the four new Mercedes vehicles are meant to replace them and augment the fleet, he said. The fleet includes two Maybach limousines, one of which was sent to Jaipur for use by French President Emmanuel Macron when he visited the city in January.
The four vehicles have already arrived at the Jawaharlal Nehru Port in Mumbai, the first official said. Based on the specified end use, which is in the country’s interest, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs has approved waiver of the customs duty on these cars, he said.
The protocol demands arrangement of such vehicles for visiting dignitaries, he said. The Section 25(2) of the Customs Act, 1962, provides for duty waiver if the central government is satisfied it is necessary in public interest.
The customs waiver is subject to four conditions – cars will be used for the purpose they are imported, they cannot be used for any commercial purpose, cannot be sold without the permission of CBIC, and they should be made available to customs officials for inspections.
As per law, these cars are customised to Indian specifications with a right-hand drive. Import of left-hand drive vehicles are not permitted in India. All imported non-commercial motor vehicles have to be registered in the national capital territory of Delhi and must conform to Indian emission norms, he said.
Mercedes cars were chosen because they meet the required specifications, including security parameters, the officials said. Besides protecting occupants from gunfire from automatic weapons, the vehicles must withstand blasts of a certain intensity. In addition to protective coating on the insides of the windows, the underbody is armoured to protect occupants from blasts.
Although Mercedes has several high-security models, its Maybach S650 Guard provides the highest level of protection. If imported by an individual with paying import duty and other charges, it costs ₹12 crore, an expert said, requesting anonymity. With duty waiver and other exemptions, it would cost ₹5-6 crore.
