India-Made Maruti, Mahindra And Tata Electric Cars To Be Sold In The UK, Duty-Free
Maruti Suzuki, Mahindra and Mahindra, and Tata Motors are all looking at the UK as an export market for India-manufactured electric vehicles, following the India-UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement that comes into force on July 15, 2026. The opportunity is real but structured around a timeline that means no duty-free EV exports happen until year six of the agreement.
Under the FTA, India-made electric, hybrid, and hydrogen passenger vehicles can enter the UK free of customs duty from the sixth year of the agreement onwards. The agreement comes into force on July 15, 2026, making year six start no earlier than 2031.
Before that point, Indian-made EVs entering the UK pay the standard UK import duty, currently 6.5 per cent. From year six, zero-duty access is available across three price brackets: below GBP 20,000, between GBP 20,000 and GBP 40,000, and between GBP 40,000 and GBP 80,000, all subject to annual quotas. Vehicles priced above GBP 80,000 are excluded from any concessions under the EV provisions.
In year six, 6,800 units are allocated to the sub-GBP 20,000 bracket, 6,800 units to the GBP 20,000 to 40,000 bracket, and 4,000 units to the GBP 40,000 to 80,000 bracket, totalling 17,600 units across all three categories.
That quota grows to 88,000 units per year by year fifteen and remains at that level. The UK registers approximately 1.7 to 1.9 million new cars annually. An 88,000-unit quota at full utilisation represents under 5 per cent of the UK market and covers only EVs, hybrids, and hydrogen vehicles from India.
The sub-GBP 20,000 bracket, approximately Rs 22 lakh at current exchange rates, is the most commercially relevant for volume brands. The GBP 20,000 to 40,000 bracket, roughly Rs 22 lakh to Rs 44 lakh, covers Mahindra's BE 6e and XEV 9e after UK market cost adjustments.
Maruti is not merely planning UK exports. The eVitara, built at Maruti's Hansalpur plant in Gujarat on a Suzuki platform, began shipping to the UK and 11 European countries in August 2025. By December 2025, cumulative eVitara exports had crossed 10,000 units across 26 markets, with the UK among the first recipients. Maruti is already a functioning EV exporter to the UK and will be among the first to use the duty-free quota when it opens in 2031, subject to volume allocation.
Mahindra has been the most explicit about UK ambitions from a strategic standpoint. The BE 6e and XEV 9e have been engineered to Euro NCAP and WVTA standards, which are prerequisites for UK sale.
The company has described the UK as a priority right-hand-drive market for its electric SUV portfolio. Tata's Nexon EV and Curvv EV are right-hand-drive vehicles, and Tata's ownership of JLR gives it existing UK regulatory and distribution infrastructure that most other Indian exporters do not have.
The duty-free quota opening in 2031 with 17,600 units will be oversubscribed quickly if Maruti, Tata, and Mahindra are all active UK exporters by then. The sub-GBP 20,000 and GBP 20,000 to 40,000 brackets each get 6,800 units in year six, meaning each price band can support at most two or three brands at meaningful volume before the quota is exhausted. The brands that build homologation, dealer networks, and after-sales in the UK over the next five years will be positioned to use those slots. Those that arrive in 2031 without established market presence will find the quota already claimed by whoever was ready first.