Good debate. Hope our energy minister finds time to read this in the middle of his trips to Iran.
Frankly, caring about environment isn't the question here. Cutting on gasoline imports is.
But from what I know, hybrid's aren't exorbitantly expensive to maintain. That was the point I was arguing against. If it was, it wont sell this much. I heard that many places in US, there is 2 to 3 months wait for the new hybrid Civic!
Reva is good example to prove our govt isn't thinking on these lines yet. Reva does get some tax relief, but not much. It is expensive for what it delivers.
The reason no car maker will willingly bring hybrids to India is - low margins. Any high-tech product gets "perception" margins in richer markets. They will mint money in US first, then Japan, Europe. When its time to dump (next generation hybrids arrive) , they will think India.
Govt does not care about cars (dumping/duties) - fair enough - there are other issues with higher priority (roads for example). But cutting on gasoline imports - this has to be a long term thing we should start thinking about. |