FICCI Electric Vehicles Committee Chairperson Sulajja Firodia Motw. has stressed the need to reduce GST rates on batteries and charging services to keep EVs competitive. Speaking at FICCI’s national conference on EVs, he also advocated increasing the Prime Minister’s E-Drive Fund to promote sales of electric vehicles. Motw. said, we will recommend to the GST Council to rationalize GST tax on EV related sectors.
18 percent GST is deducted on charging
Elaborating on the demands, he said, ‘Currently 18 per cent GST is imposed on charging services, we will request to reduce it to 5 per cent, so that customers can get charging at lower cost.’ GST rate on old batteries should also be reduced to 5 percent. Motw. is also the founder and CEO of Kinetic Green Energy and Power Solutions. He said, “5 percent GST is charged on EV, while 18 percent GST is charged on battery.
Demand for review of incentive amount under Prime Minister e-Drive Scheme
Sulajja said that these two amendments on GST will go a long way in making EVs more competitive for customers. Motw. welcomed the Prime Minister e-Drive scheme and said that with the increasing demand there is a need to review the incentive amount. He said that due to increasing demand, the incentive amount may have to be reviewed. He further said, ‘We believe that Pradhan Mantri e-Drive has a lot of potential and it will prove to be very helpful in promoting electric transportation.’
The government had launched the Pradhan Mantri e-Drive scheme in October.
Let us tell you that in October this year, the Central Government launched the Pradhan Mantri E-Drive Scheme with an outlay of Rs 10,900 crore to promote electric vehicles, set up charging infrastructure and develop the EV manufacturing ecosystem in India. Was. This scheme will be applicable from 1 October 2024 to 31 March 2026.
