Himachal Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Saturday welcomed the decision of the GST Council to reduce Goods and Services Tax (GST) rates on electric vehicles (EVs) from 12 per cent to 5 per cent from August 1.
He said the decisions to cut tax on EV chargers from 18 percent to 5 percent and exemption on hiring of electric buses by local authorities are also appreciable steps, which were supported by the state government.
In a statement issued here, the Chief Minister said that these are the major decisions which would go a long way in boosting e-vehicle industry in the country which was demanding reduction in GST rates for a long time. He said this move is a much needed step to encourage the adoption of EVs by the people.
The decision is expected to incentivize domestic manufacturing and consumption of electric vehicles in the country leading to significant reduction in prices of EVs'. The extensive use of EVs’ will reduce dependence on fossil fuels and therefore import dependence.
"This decision will have significant impact on vehicular pollution and will pave way for a cleaner environment", he said adding that the ecologically sensitive state of Himachal Pradesh with a huge tourism potential is expected to be one of the major beneficiary of this decision.
The 36th meeting of the GST Council chaired by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman through video conferencing was attended by Principal Secretary (Excise & Taxation) Sanjay Kundu, Commissioner of State Tax and Excise Ajay Sharma and Joint Commissioner of State
Tax and Excise Rakesh Sharma on behalf of Himachal Pradesh.