After UP, Karnataka Also Plans to Waive-Off Road Taxes on Hybrid Cars

As we reported and foresaw earlier, hybrid vehicles will gain traction in the Indian market, and that’s what we are witnessing. First, Uttar Pradesh had put a waiver on car registrations of hybrid vehicles, but now we have a second Indian state that also plans to do the same- Karnataka. 

In addition to that, the Karnataka government has proposed to do away with the registration charges and road tax in favour of hybrid cars, which are priced under USD 30,000 (Rs 25 Lakh approx), making it in contrast to the current 13 per cent to 18 per cent. This information is as per the draft seen by the Newswire. In parallel, registration and state road taxes are additionally charged on top of federal sales tax of 5% for EVs and up to 43% for hybrid vehicles. 

At the same time, the proposed draft also mentions that Karnataka aims to boost clean mobility vehicle adoption, which includes hybrids, EVs, and hydrogen-based vehicles. In addition to that, it is worth noting that no deadline has been set, as far as the unveiling and finalisation of EV policy is concerned. 

Moreover, the Karnataka government plans to offer state-level incentives of the investments made by EV-specific companies ranging from 15 per cent to 25 per cent. The investment-based incentives will also cover land and machinery, applicable to new factories and the expansion of existing factories. In fact, the manufacturers of battery-specific components and EV charging gears can also benefit from this policy. 

The state government’s draft also mentioned that the incentive will differ as per the scale of the investment and the number of employees. Previously, the Government of Karnataka also indicated raising up to 6 billion dollars via new investments made through the clean mobility policy. However, there are no other details that have been made public yet. 

Closing Words

Several carmakers like BYD, Hyundai, TVS, Hero MotoCorp, BMW, JLR, etc., are focusing on tapping the hybrid market in India. Currently, only two automobile makers are operating in this segment, namely Maruti Suzuki and Toyota Kirloskar. Both have received a positive response, plus the demand for hybrid vehicles is also increasing.

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