Union Budget 2019: Finance Minister announces preparation for dealing with pollution

New Delhi, July. 05(HS): Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that the tax on the purchase of electric vehicles has been reduced from 12 percent to 5 percent. Interest rates will also be available for this.Now electric cars, bikes will now have 5 percent tax. This will give buyers the benefit of relaxation.

The minister also said that GST will be reduced from 12% to 5% on electric vehicles. Also a big discount for startup has been announced. To promote pollution-free electric vehicles on the roads, the government will waive the registration fees of all the Battery-run vehicles. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has released the format of notification for this. The Ministry has started the arrangement of two types of registration fees under Central Motor Vehicle Rule (CMVR) 1989. The Ministry has issued a draft notification for change in CMVR rule 81 on 18th June.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself started a major program to popularize e-Rikshaw. He distributed e-rickshaws in unemployed youth in Varanasi in his parliamentary constituency in 2014, which was given at affordable interest rates. By October 2018, there were about 1.5 million battery powered e-rickshaws in the country.