Governments do not usually launch cars. Companies do. Wednesday, however, was different as Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit launched the battery-operated vehicle Reva and announced a 29.5% discount on the vehicle. The Delhi government also announced that it would consider incentives for and subsidies on hybrid cars the automobile industry's latest answer to environmental pollution and rising fuel prices.
"We will certainly consider concessions for the hybrid cars and welcome any new technology that helps improve air quality," Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said after unveiling a new version of 'Reva', India's only electric car that is getting concessions from the government.
In April this year, the cabinet had decided to give a 29.5% concession to purchasers of battery-operated vehicles. The concession includes a 15% subsidy on the base price of the vehicle, a VAT refund of 12.5% both of which will be paid through the air ambience fund that was created out of the 25p cess the state government had imposed, about three months earlier, on every litre of diesel. A 2% concession on road tax and registration expenses will also be sourced from the same fund. The state government has already earned Rs 10 crore from the cess, Dikshit said.
Reva is the first car to be accorded that benefit. After the concession, the price of the Rs 4.25 lakh vehicle will come down to Rs 2.99 lakh for the base model. Reva Electric Car Company (RECC) Deputy Chairman Chetan Maini said the company planned to increase the production of electric cars over the next three years as it would be launched across many metros in India and even targeted at markets in Europe and South-East Asia.
Dikshit said that buyers of battery-operated two-wheelers might also be able to avail of similar concessions soon. The government's decision to consider similar concessions for hybrids come as good news for companies that plan to launch hybrid vehicles. Honda launched India's first full hybrid vehicle in a new petrol-electric version of the 'Civic' sedan, although the high cumulative duties on the model have doubled the price of the vehicle to Rs 21.5 lakh from Rs 11 lakh for the petrol-only version. Others like Toyota, Mahindra and even Tata are likely to follow soon.
"We welcome the intention of the Delhi government to consider concessions for hybrids. We have already apprised the central government about our technology and are open to approaching the Delhi government," a spokesperson for Honda said.
Pointing out that almost 1000 new vehicles were registered in Delhi every day, Dikshit said, "We are deeply concerned about what will happen to the air quality with the increasing number of cars in Delhi. Diesel as we all know is the greatest polluter." People who could afford more than one car should explore options like electric vehicles, she said.
0 comments:
Post a Comment