FICCI seeks GST cuts on EV batteries, charging services to boost affordability
New Delhi: In order to keep EVs competitive there is a need to reduce GST on batteries and charging services, FICCI Electric Vehicle Committee Chair Sulajja Firodia Motwani said on Tuesday.
Speaking at the sidelines of FICCI National Conference on EVs here, she also exhorted the need to enhance PM E-Drive corpus to support enhanced sales of EVs. "We would be making a recommendation to the GST council to rationalise the GST taxation on EVrelated areas," Motwani said.
Elaborating on the demands, she noted, "Currently the GST on charging services is still 18 per cent which we would request to bring down to 5 per cent so that charging becomes more affordable to the consumers." Secondly, the GST on batteries should also come down to 5 per cent, she added.
"While EVs attract a GST of 5 per cent, GST on batteries is 18 per cent. The request is to reduce it to 5 per cent so that when consumers buy replacement batteries, it is more affordable," Motwani said. Meeting that these two reforms on GST will help a lot in making EVs more competitive for the consumers, she stated.
While welcoming the PM E-Drive scheme, Motwani said that with rising demand there is a need to review the incentive amounts. "We believe that because the demand is growing, perhaps the incentive amounts have to be reviewed so that the budget under the PM E-Drive scheme overall is enhanced to ensure that the total number of vehicles sold in the next two years are eligible for the incentive," she stated.
She further said, "We do believe that PM E-Drive has great potential, and it will go a long way in further accelerating electric mobility." Motwani also emphasised that EVs should be part of priority sector lending.
