new delhi, Sept. 5 -- Chinese companies, including Sany and Foton, are leading the charge of heavy truck electrification in India even as legacy players like Tata Motors and Ashok Leyland lag behind, raising concerns among Indian executives about low import tariffs on such trucks, which are giving foreign firms an easy route into the market. Benefiting from low import duties, Chinese truckmakers like Sany have directly started to sell electric truck tractors, a type of heavy-duty truck. Sany has sold 722 trucks in this financial year so far, compared with 5 in the same period last year, while Foton's sales have surged owing to its partnership with Indian firm Energy in Motion (EIM), with sales reaching 151 units in the first five months of financial year 2027, compared with 0 in the same period last year, as per data from government's Vahan portal. EIM gained access to locally import, assemble and sell Foton trucks last year. The jump in sales has made Sany the largest heavy electric truck seller in the Indian market, ahead of number two Montra Electric, which sold 310 electric trucks in the first five months of FY27. Energy in Motion ranks third, ahead of Tata Motors, Eka Mobility and Ashok Leyland. Emails for comment from Ashok Leyland, Tata Motors, Eka Mobility and Sany remained unanswered. The fast growth in sales of these Chinese truckmakers has raised alarm bells among Indian executives, who are arguing that there is a need to eliminate the duty advantage being enjoyed by these truckmakers, which can sell at competitive prices without setting up local manufacturing or R&D presence. This comes as infrastructure companies ramp up electrification of their own supply chains, with Birla Group's Ultratech announcing on Wednesday that it will procure 600 EVs from Indian and Chinese truckmakers for its operations. "It takes at least five years of work on research and development, and setting up manufacturing facilities to make these trucks. Local industry will need some level of protection," a senior executive at a commercial vehicle manufacturer told Mint, on the condition of anonymity. Narendra Murkumbi, managing director at EIM, told Mint that the cost differential between electric and diesel trucks was too high for Indian transporters, which was creating a hurdle in adoption of this technology. "We have managed to disrupt the sector which has seen lack of innovation to cut down costs. Along with Foton trucks, we have also invested in a high capacity charging and battery swapping network which has helped us drive down costs and lead electrification in the heavy truck segment," he said. Discussions over the import duty gathered pace in August when Tata Motors managing director and chief executive Girish Wagh highlighted the concerns over the import duty. Notably, 605 out of 722 sales of Sany came during the month of August, at a time when clamour over these import duty structures picked up pace. The surge in sales of these Chinese players has attracted the attention of Tata Motors, which highlighted the issue in its post-earnings conference last month....