Tata Motors warns against lower GST for hybrid vehicles
Tata Motors, the country’s leading passenger electric vehicle maker, cautioned on Wednesday. Shailesh Chandra, managing director, Tata Motors’ passenger vehicles and passenger EV divisions, said hybrid vehicles use a small battery pack and a motor that relies heavily on a fossil-fuel engine, effectively making them gasoline-run vehicles.
He argued that hybrids do not align with the key objectives of achieving net carbon-zero, improving air quality levels, and cutting fossil fuel imports. These objections come amid the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) and Ministry of Heavy Industries’ move to seek the auto industry’s consensus on rationalizing taxes on hybrid passenger vehicles.
Chandra dismissed the idea of offering incentives for hybrids, calling it a “misguided effort" by some Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs). He pointed out that fossil fuel-based technologies, such as Gasoline Direct Injection (GDI) and Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), contribute to improving fuel efficiency without the need for additional incentives, highlighting the existing benefits for hybrids in the form of a 2% lower cess on hybrid vehicles.
India currently levies a goods and service tax (GST) of 28% on hybrid vehicles, and 5% on EVs. Efforts by the India units of Japanese carmakers Toyota Motor Corp.
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