After GST Relief, Electric Vehicles May Soon Be Exempt From Road Tax Too
Electric vehicles are set to receive yet another boost from the government of India. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highway led by Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday proposed that EVs shall now be exempted from paying road tax for vehicle registration. This comes as the latest move in the government&rsquos push to increase EV adoption in India.
Electric vehicles are set to receive yet another boost from the government of India. After plans to cut down the GST on EVs to 5% were doing the rounds, the Ministry of Road, Transport and Highway led by Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday proposed that EVs shall now be exempted from paying road tax for vehicle registration.
The decision has been aimed at all classes of electric vehicles, i.e. two-wheelers, three-wheelers as well as four-wheelers. If the proposal is accepted, every battery operated electric vehicle sold in India will not attract any road tax. In fact, the existing electric vehicle owners will also not have to pay any renewal fees for the same.
This comes as the latest move in the government¡¯s push to increase EV adoption in the country. With no road tax, the prices of such battery operated electric vehicles will come down, thus leading to their increased sales. As of now, the biggest hindrance in an increased EV use is the high price of such vehicles.
(Representative Image: Reuters)
Also read: Indian Car Makers Want Govt. To Promote Alternate Fuel And CNG Along With Electric Vehicles
The GST council held a meeting on June 20, as it aimed to restructure the GST rates across industries. One of the major focuses during the meeting was to cut down the GST applicable on electric vehicles. What used to be a GST of 12% can soon be brought down to a mere 5%.
In addition to this, the government has been putting in the taxpayers¡¯ money into setting up the infrastructure for EVs. The centre recently even directed the state transport departments to float tenders for the procurement of a total of 2500 electric buses, setting up a total fund of Rs 5000 crore for the same.
Niti Aayog, the think tank of India, recently also laid down a road map for the transition to EVs, mentioning a total ban on the sale of petrol/ diesel two and three wheelers by 2023 and on such commercial vehicles by 2026. It even predicted complete ban on all non-electric vehicles by 2030.
