[sugam]

Hi all
Need some advice on my situation.
I am going to Mauritius for the next 3 years for higher education. I have been there for 5 years previously as well.
This time I am planning to taking my 2007 model Indica Xeta with me for personal use. I have got things like customs, VAT, etc. figured out at the Mauritius end. The only hitch is that I don't know if the Indian authorities would allow exporting an already registered car.
If yes, what would be the procedure for that?

Also, if anybody could please give me an idea on the transportation costs, it would be great.

Buying a car there doesn't make sense for me because
1. They are comparatively costlier there.
2. This Indica is my personal car and would lie unused after I leave.
So even after paying duties and transport (I had an approximate idea) the deal turns out more financially viable.

Mods file this thread in the right place. I couldn't find a place for exports.

Thanks

[cingsman]

Wow! That's a first for me buddy! Have you checked with some of the movers and packers - they might be the ones with some handy information (only if you can glean some from them).

I don't think the Indian end should be much hassle - but do check the emissions, PUC at the Mauritius end please (given that they are extremely active on the Global Warming thing).

[arvi86]

Originally Posted by sugam

The only hitch is that I don't know if the Indian authorities would allow exporting an already registered car.

Of all the questions that you have asked, I know the answer only for one question. This also is just a speculation. I have seen an India-registered car (with 'MH' registration) in Dubai when I was there in 2007. So, if the authorities don't allow, the owner would not have been able to bring his car there and drive. So, the authorities should be allowing the option of exporting the car from India on personal usage.

Take this with a pinch of salt though, as this may or may not be right. There are better-informed people here to help you out.

[amitwlele]

@sugam - Sorry mate i do not have any answers to your questions, but i have one more question

Would there be additional road worthy tests (like emission levels etc) be done in Mauritius once you export your car there?

[Parm]

Originally Posted by sugam

This time I am planning to taking my 2007 model Indica Xeta with me for personal use. I have got things like customs, VAT, etc. figured out at the Mauritius end. The only hitch is that I don't know if the Indian authorities would allow exporting an already registered car.
If yes, what would be the procedure for that?

is driving in mauritius LHD or RHD?

[DicKy]

Originally Posted by Parm

is driving in mauritius LHD or RHD?

Mauritius is LHS traffic as same as ours and the cars RHD, also same as ours.

[xingamazon]

Like many have mentioned even I dont think I have answer to your question.
But I have an opinion. Frankly I dont think Indian authorities will be bothered with you taking a car out, its only the incoming country which will create issues. Just make sure things from Mauri govt are OK for you taking car into the country
Remember now that you mentioned cars are costly in Mauritius. If taking cars there was so easy, everyone will end up doing what you are planning to do.
Thats why dont think it will be that easy.


But try doing this.

1. Get in touch with movers and packer they will have good suggestion on rules for transport.
2. Get in touch with Mauritius RTO, understand if the car is drive worthy in Mauritius.
3. Side driving is OK, but are airbags compulsory in Mauritius does you car have them.
4. Road tax for countries require the car to be certified by RTO authorities. So you need a certificate from them for sure.
5. Any foreign car might also be subject to fleecing by police (if they are like our police people) they will ask for RTO certificate etc etc. You need to be doubly sure this is taken car.,

Net net. If I were you I would sell the car in India and buy a second hand one in Mauritius. Thats just me.
Hope my post helped you

OT: The title should actually read transferring car to foreign country not exporting.

[sugam]

Originally Posted by amitwlele

@sugam - Sorry mate i do not have any answers to your questions, but i have one more question

Would there be additional road worthy tests (like emission levels etc) be done in Mauritius once you export your car there?

Yes, the car would be subjected to road worthy tests after import to Mauritius.

Originally Posted by cingsman

Wow! That's a first for me buddy! Have you checked with some of the movers and packers - they might be the ones with some handy information (only if you can glean some from them).

I don't think the Indian end should be much hassle - but do check the emissions, PUC at the Mauritius end please (given that they are extremely active on the Global Warming thing).

Well, I'll only be taking my car with me in my second visit. I will have to take permissions from the National Transport Authority, the Mauritius Revenue Authority and the Ports Authority prior to import. Till now, I have only spoken to the customs and they have told me I need to pay 70% taxes on my import and they have evaluated my car at 100000 INR. So doesn't seem like a bad deal to me.

Originally Posted by xingamazon

Like many have mentioned even I dont think I have answer to your question.
But I have an opinion. Frankly I dont think Indian authorities will be bothered with you taking a car out, its only the incoming country which will create issues. Just make sure things from Mauri govt are OK for you taking car into the country
Remember now that you mentioned cars are costly in Mauritius. If taking cars there was so easy, everyone will end up doing what you are planning to do.
Thats why dont think it will be that easy.


But try doing this.

1. Get in touch with movers and packer they will have good suggestion on rules for transport.
2. Get in touch with Mauritius RTO, understand if the car is drive worthy in Mauritius.
3. Side driving is OK, but are airbags compulsory in Mauritius does you car have them.
4. Road tax for countries require the car to be certified by RTO authorities. So you need a certificate from them for sure.
5. Any foreign car might also be subject to fleecing by police (if they are like our police people) they will ask for RTO certificate etc etc. You need to be doubly sure this is taken car.,

Net net. If I were you I would sell the car in India and buy a second hand one in Mauritius. Thats just me.
Hope my post helped you

OT: The title should actually read transferring car to foreign country not exporting.

Thanks for such an extensive view.
Airbags are compulsory in Mauritius? That's news to me. Coming to think of it, I have seen airbags in all cars that I've been in Mauritius. But then, I have also seen a couple of Indicas (old ones) running there. I guess even the top DLX / GLX variant doesn't have airbags in India. Could it be possible that these exported ones have airbags? Anyhow, I will get in touch with the National Transport Aurhority.

Well, my car wouldn't sell for more than 1.2 to 1.4 lacs right now. Converted to Mauritian Rupees, that is about 90000 rupees. Add in the customs and transport that I plan to pay, it would be 1.5 lac Mauritian rupees. This amount would only get me a 1990 model something there. Even if well maintained, there's always a risk of running into major repairs for such old cars.

The simplest of second hand Nissan (Micra) or Toyota (Vitz) hatch costs about 2.5 Lac MUR (400000 INR). Now that I'm on a tight budget, I guess I can say every lac counts.

How can I change the title of the thread?

Thanks.

Note from the Team-BHP Support Team: Please use the "edit" button if posting within 30 minutes of the first post, instead of creating another back-to-back post.

Also use "Multi Quote" option for quoting Multiple posts.

[Irish]

Originally Posted by sugam

How can I change the title of the thread?

Thanks.

You can request the mods to change the title of the thread.

Cheers!
Irish

[plain.vanilla]

Hi Sugam. An interesting question indeed. Here in India, I have seen cars like Bentley with Dubai registration. When I asked someone about that, I was told that the car was brought in on special permit for a 6 months period under the temporary import scheme. On googling for 'temporary import of cars to India', I came across this link.
Income Tax in India - Nri Taxes
Now all this is for temporary imports into India. But there is a mention of the 'ATA Carnet' System that allows temporary imports to 63 countries including India. You can check the ATA Carnet site here
Welcome to FICCI ATA Carnet
On the ATA countries link Mauritius is also listed as one of the participating countries and you can find the people who can help you out when you click on the Mauritius link.

1. My guess is when you do such an import you do not have to register the car in the new country (as with the bentley I saw here)
2. How temporary is the temporary import? I don't know. It may need to be renewed multiple times if you are going for 3 years. I think the ATA Carnet site can answer some of your queries.

Maybe they have a listing of vehicles that can be temporarily imported. I am not sure about that but hopefully they can help you out. Do let us know how things work out.

[GTO]

Sugam, trust me, as an international student, there will be more important things to spend your time on. While your fellow classmates will be enjoying & learning in the orientation period, interacting with professors and making new friends, you will be wasting your time on:

- Paperwork
- Logistics
- Custom duties
- Ensuring that your car clears local tests

And that's just the beginning. How are you going to manage parts & labour when the Indica breaks down? Lastly, face it, she ain't no Ferrari. I mean, why would you ship an Indica with you to Mauritius?!!! Instead, buy a cheap used car there (as most students do), or if you want to save on $$$, get a bike!

But for heavens sake, you are going to Mauritius to learn. Please use all the available time toward that primary objective ONLY.

Sorry, but I'm going to give this thread a thumbs down.

[plain.vanilla]

Originally Posted by GTO

But for heavens sake, you are going to Mauritius to learn. Please use all the available time toward that primary objective ONLY.

I would second that thought. As a student living on a budget in the USA, one of the best investments I made was to buy a second hand bicycle (one of those Shwinn racing bikes) for $20(unbelievable.. I know). I did not have to wait for the buses for going to the university, did not have to pay for parking. In fact in the weekends for longer distances, I would take my bicycle with me on buses and the subway in New York City. It was THE BEST mode of transport.

For a student in a beautiful country like Mauritius, a bicycle and other public transport would rock. As an added bonus its ZERO POLLUTION.

[sugam]

Originally Posted by plain.vanilla

Hi Sugam. An interesting question indeed. Here in India, I have seen cars like Bentley with Dubai registration. When I asked someone about that, I was told that the car was brought in on special permit for a 6 months period under the temporary import scheme. On googling for 'temporary import of cars to India', I came across this link.
Income Tax in India - Nri Taxes
Now all this is for temporary imports into India. But there is a mention of the 'ATA Carnet' System that allows temporary imports to 63 countries including India. You can check the ATA Carnet site here
Welcome to FICCI ATA Carnet
On the ATA countries link Mauritius is also listed as one of the participating countries and you can find the people who can help you out when you click on the Mauritius link.

1. My guess is when you do such an import you do not have to register the car in the new country (as with the bentley I saw here)
2. How temporary is the temporary import? I don't know. It may need to be renewed multiple times if you are going for 3 years. I think the ATA Carnet site can answer some of your queries.

Maybe they have a listing of vehicles that can be temporarily imported. I am not sure about that but hopefully they can help you out. Do let us know how things work out.

Hi plain vanilla
Thanks for the reply. I have gone through the carnet system. The catch there is that the carnet is valid only for one year. After that, the car HAS to be re-exported to the country of origin.
Still I'll try writing to them and asking them.

Originally Posted by GTO

Sugam, trust me, as an international student, there will be more important things to spend your time on. While your fellow classmates will be enjoying & learning in the orientation period, interacting with professors and making new friends, you will be wasting your time on:

- Paperwork
- Logistics
- Custom duties
- Ensuring that your car clears local tests

And that's just the beginning. How are you going to manage parts & labour when the Indica breaks down? Lastly, face it, she ain't no Ferrari. I mean, why would you ship an Indica with you to Mauritius?!!! Instead, buy a cheap used car there (as most students do), or if you want to save on $$$, get a bike!

But for heavens sake, you are going to Mauritius to learn. Please use all the available time toward that primary objective ONLY.

Sorry, but I'm going to give this thread a thumbs down.

Hi GTO
Thanks for your indispensable views.
Well you're right in saying it's only an Indica and it IS bound to break down. Guess that was the adventurous side of me willing to take a risk. I was planning to take care of it myself with the help of a couple of my friends there who are good at this stuff. Spares shouldn't be a problem. Tata motors has a spares provider on the island.
But whatever I say, your argument makes much more sense. It'll be a huge hassle to cover all paperwork and road worthy tests.
From my knowledge of my last stay there, any reliable used car (2000 model onwards) would cost atleast 200,000 MUR. That's almost a 330,000 INR.
I guess I'll go there and try to find out if I can get anything in lesser than this. If not, local buses are always there to stay.

[leftcoastfool]

I am living on Norfolk Island, an outlying Australian Territory in the South Pacific where the ADRs do not apply. So, it is legal for me to import and license an Indian spec'ed vehicle here. During several prolonged trips to India and Bhutan in the early 2000s I became enamored with the Mahindra Maxxi-Truck. It impressed me with it's strength and durability. When Mahindra introduced the Big Bolero pick-up earlier this year I decided I wanted to buy one. That's where I need help...

I contacted Mahindra's corporate offices and was told they are unable to sell directly to an individual. I searched the internet for Mahindra dealers throughout India and emailed eight different dealers who had websites indicating that they were high-volume and could order the truck - not ONE emailed me back! I then tried a different tack: I contacted DCDesign asking them to purchase the truck, customize it (2-tone paint, Line-X bedliner, upgrade the interior, etc.). After repeated emails I got a reply saying their design team was looking at it. After another month of waiting I phoned their contact - I could hear him clearly but he said he couldn't hear me. I phoned a second time with the same result. At that point I assumed they just weren't interested (they could have at least just told me that in the first place!).

So, after all that I'm no closer to getting the truck. Does ANYONE have any advice on how I can make this purchase and get the truck to a freight forwarder for export from India to Norfolk Island? Thanks for any suggestions!

[manasm]

Not able to message you, but maybe I can help. See if you can message me privately or email @ mmuralidharan111@gmail.com