Union Minister Nitin Gadkari to propose only emission-based vehicle incentives

New Delhi, June 12 (KNN) Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari said that he will request Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to consider incentives for vehicles only based on their emissions.

In an exclusive conversation with ETAuto, he said several countries across the world have taxes based on the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by vehicles and I will request our Finance Minister to think on similar lines.

“I will request her to bring out a policy where alternative fuels and flex fuels are incentivised and high taxes are imposed on the fuel guzzlers,” he told ETAuto.

“The government already has a lot of incentives for less pollution emitters. There is a 5% GST on electric cars, but for petrol cars, the GST is 48%. The Finance Minister will take further decisions on this,” he added.

In India, hybrid vehicles attract the same GST as their internal combustion engine (ICE) counterparts.

He told ETAuto that the reason people prefer electric vehicles because they are cost-effective, pollution-free, and indigenous.

“But the problem is that one litre of petrol equals 10 rupees of electricity. The cost of electric vehicles compared with diesel and petrol is high,” pointed out the Minister.

In the power sector, 38% of generation is through solar power, and we will reach 60% soon. There is also a lot of research and development going on in hydropower, nuclear power, and geothermal power, he said.  (KNN Bureau)