Additional Tax on Diesel Vehicles: Nitin Gadkari clarifies his statement, says ‘no proposal under active consideration’
The tweet by the minister has indirectly means that Diesel vehicles will be facing more stringent norms in the future. Speaking about the cars using diesel as fuel, the SUVs are the ones that mostly use diesel.
The Indian government is slowly pushing the vehicle norms in the favor of cleaner forms of energy that includes electric energy and alternative fuels. The government is also encouraging people not to use Diesel vehicles. As several media reports suggested 10 percent GST on the sale of diesel vehicles, Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari clarified it by tweeting that ‘there is no such proposal currently under active consideration’.
The imposition of 10 percent GST meant that some of the popular SUVs in India would be more costlier. Even though automobile manufacturers have introduced petrol engines for their SUVs (apart from diesel engines) for the sake of alternative, the diesel variants of the SUVs are quite preferred. The hike in GST for diesel vehicle is a direct indication that the vehicles would cost more and people will be discouraged to get one. However, as of now, it is a matter of relief for aspirational diesel SUV buyers as the Road minister declined on the implementation of such law. This does not mean that diesel vehicles are safe, as the government is planning to do away with diesel vehicles due to high carbon emissions.
Clarifying the report on increase in taxes for the diesel vehicles, Nitin Gadkari tweeted, “There is an urgent need to clarify media reports suggesting an additional 10% GST on the sale of diesel vehicles. It is essential to clarify that there is no such proposal currently under active consideration by the government. In line with our commitments to achieve Carbon Net Zero by 2070 and to reduce air pollution levels caused by hazardous fuels like diesel, as well as the rapid growth in automobile sales, it is imperative to actively embrace cleaner and greener alternative fuels. These fuels should be import substitutes, cost-effective, indigenous, and pollution-free.”
There is an urgent need to clarify media reports suggesting an additional 10% GST on the sale of diesel vehicles. It is essential to clarify that there is no such proposal currently under active consideration by the government. In line with our commitments to achieve Carbon Net…
— Nitin Gadkari (@nitin_gadkari) September 12, 2023
The tweet by the minister has indirectly means that Diesel vehicles will be facing more stringent norms in the future. Speaking about the cars using diesel as fuel, the SUVs are the ones that mostly use diesel. They are charged with 28 percent GST.
In India some of the SUVs that are quite popular among masses include, Mahindra Scorpio N (as well as Classic), Mahindra XUV700, Toyota Fortuner, Tata Safari, Tata Harrier and Toyota Innova. Most of the SUVs have variants above the Rs 20 lakh (excluding fortuner which starts from Rs 33 lakh) and if GST is increased (by 10 percent) this means the prices shoot upwards.
Ms Kalinga