Automakers Seek Policy Push To EV Ecosystem

New Delhi: Automakers want the government to provide merit-based policies to support a full range of green technologies and alternative fuels besides allocations to facilitate electric vehicle ecosystem like charging infrastructure to further accelerate sustainable mobility in the upcoming Union Budget. With the automobile industry showing early signs of growth slowing down, they said budgetary initiatives to boost the disposable income of consumers are necessary to support robust growth.

“We request the government for appropriate merit-based policies that support and help in popularising full range of greener technologies and alternative fuels thereby helping in faster and greater adoption of multiple sustainable mobility solutions,” Toyota Kirloskar Motor Country Head and Executive Vice President - Corporate Affairs and Governance - Vikram Gulati said.

Further, he said measures to encourage the scrapping of old vehicles through the budget will also boost demand for newer generation vehicles and eliminate the polluting ones. Stating that the upcoming Union Budget presents an opportunity to address some pressing needs of the automotive sector, Skoda Auto Volkswagen India MD & CEO Piyush Arora said, “A long-term vision for favourable tax structure catering to different automotive technologies would certainly benefit the industry.”

The product development cycles are quite lengthy and require substantial investment which needs to be considered, he said, adding, “simplifying the GST structure for the different classes of vehicles and components is another ask”. Arora said, “Budget allocation on facilitating the EV ecosystem like charging infrastructure will give further lift to sustainable mobility. Allocating a budget for better and safe road infrastructure will facilitate the growth of the auto industry.” Noting that there are early signs of auto industry growth slowing down, he said, “Therefore, budgetary initiatives to boost disposable income of consumers is necessary to support robust growth.”