Maruti Suzuki believes that the government will show support for “Green” car technology beyond full electric vehicles (EVs), such as hybrids if it benefited the country, the chief executive of the company told Reuters.
According to the executive, it will benefit the companies that build the cars domestically in billions as, India’s taxes on hybrid cars range as high as 43%, compared to the low rate of 5% for EVs. When asked how talks with the government were progressing to secure lower taxes for hybrid cars, the executive said that he thought government support would be forthcoming.
"The government's support to EVs is good ... to support some more green technology is even better," Chief Executive Hisashi Takeuchi said this Wednesday. "I believe the government will support all technologies as far as they are good and contribute to a better India."
However, Maruti said that it will not launch an all-electric model before 2025, but Takeuchi said, decarbonisation plans cover other clean technologies, such as compressed natural gas (CNG), biofuels, and flex fuel, and hybrids.
Although, in an interview with Bloomberg, Maruti Suzuki’s Chairman RC Bhargava said that electric vehicles aren’t the answer to reducing carbon emissions in the world’s third-biggest releaser of greenhouse gases, at least not in the immediate future. “Talking about electric cars without looking at the greenness of the electricity generated in the country is an inadequate approach to this problem,”
Bhargava said. “Until the time we have a cleaner grid power, it’s necessary to use all the available technologies like compressed natural gas, ethanol, hybrid and biogas, which will help reduce the carbon footprint and not push any one technology.”
“EVs are not going to be a large part of car sales, irrespective of what other manufacturers are saying or planning,” Bhargava said. “The ability to get green transportation is going to take time in India because of the nature of our electricity generation.”
IIT-B’s N-Treat tech to help BMC treat sewage on-spot in nullahs
