Tax-related concessions on vehicles on consideration: Gadkari

New Delhi: The government is considering a proposal to provide more tax-related concessions on vehicles that are purchased after scrapping old vehicles under the recently launched National Automobile Scrappage Policy, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said today.

While inaugurating Maruti Suzuki Toyotsu India's first government-approved scrapping and recycling facility for end-of-life vehicles (ELVS), Gadkari also said the scrappage policy is going to reduce pollution.

"The GST revenue of both the Centre and States will rise due to the scrappage policy. I will discuss with the Finance Ministry on how to provide more (tax-related) concessions under the new vehicle scrappage policy," he said.

Under the new policy, the Centre had said the States and Union Territories (UTS) will provide up to 25 percent tax rebate on road tax for vehicles that are purchased after scrapping old vehicles.

The Road Transport and Highways Minister said he is also requesting the GST Council to explore what more incentives can be provided un- der the National Automobile Scrappage Policy.

"The final decision (on pro- viding more incentives under the National Automobile Scrappage Policy) will be taken by the Finance Ministry and the GST Council," he said.

The minister added that the scrappage policy will benefit all stakeholders as it will boost manufacturing, create jobs and help both the Centre as well as State governments in earning up to Rs 40,000 crore each in GST.

He said the scrappage policy will be one of the key factors to control pollution and create jobs.

"Old cars are much more polluting than new ones. So, they need to be phased out. We expect sales to grow 10- 12 percent due to scrappage policy," the minister said.

Gadkari pointed out that old vehicles cause pollution, which is a big problem for society.

"Scrapping is important for the economy. We will get all raw materials at lower cost by which we can lower production cost," he said.

Gadkari also informed that the Centre is planning to introduce at least 3-4 vehicle recycling or scrapping centres in every district of the country.

"In the next two years, the country will have 200-300 more scraping centres," he said.

Gadkari said the auto sector has an annual turnover of Rs 7.5-lakh crore and his target is to take it to Rs 15-lakh crore in five years.

"India aims to have net-zero emissions by 2070 and it's very important for us. I am confident that the scrappage policy is one of the solutions," he said.

Speaking at the event, Kenichi Ayukawa, MD, and CEO of Maruti Suzuki India Ltd said, "Like many countries, we need a policy where fitness is checked for vehicles every 3 4 years. We don't need to wait for 15 years."

Source- PTI