(Photo : Maruti Suzuki website)
Grand Vitara
As India pushes for clean technologies in the automobile industry, the country's G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant has said that the current GST of 48 percent for hybrid cars will continue.
The announcement made by Kant will apparently disappoint leading automobile manufacturers like Maruti Suzuki and Toyota, as these companies are increasingly concentrating on the hybrid segment of cars.
However, companies like Tata will be happy with this decision, as the GST for electric vehicles will stay low at 5 percent. It should be noted that Tata holds the largest market share for electric cars in India with its popular EV offerings including Tiago, Nexon, and Punch.
India Continues its Clean Policies
Speaking at an event organised by Mercedes-Benz Research and Development India, Kant reaffirmed that the Indian government is committed to ensuring a clean energy future.
"We've had a policy framework where the tax on electric vehicles is 5 percent as compared to 48 percent on hybrids, which we intend to continue over a long period of time," said Kant.
Companies like Maruti Suzuki and Toyota have long been claiming that hybrid vehicles are better alternatives than traditional cars with internal combustion engines, as they produce less emissions.
However, companies like Tata strongly oppose these views, and claims that only vehicles with zero-emission technology should get incentives from the government.
"Our policy is that we push for more and more electrification in mobility through all the policy levers available, including CAFE norms. So we will relentlessly push for India to become a green mobility destination," added Kant.
EV Sales in India Declining?
Amid this strong push to increase the use of electric vehicles in the Indian market, sales of EVs in the country witnessed a slump of 10 percent in August to 6,335 units compared to the same period in the previous year.
Compared to July, sales of electric cars in India declined by 19 percent in August.
Tata took the lead in EV sales in August with 4,085 units, followed by MG and Mahindra at 1,353 and 317 units respectively.
BYD sold 209 EV units last month, while the sales of Citroen and BMW stood at 159 and 63 units, respectively.
