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View Poll Results: Should government of india make hybrid cars duty free
Yes 40 70.18%
No 10 17.54%
I don't care, I an't buying one 7 12.28%
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Old 26th March 2009, 12:41   #1
Max
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why not duty free hybrid cars in india?

I was wondering, why government of india is not making hybrid cars import duty free. Hybrid cars will pollute less, will give more mileage (around 25kmpl) (reduce fuel bills) and will cost around rs.10 lakhs (approx $20000) if import duty is waived. What do you think?
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Old 26th March 2009, 13:00   #2
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See our own home make Reva is struggling in India to get a duty free. And as I know Reva Owner get Some discount in many foreign Soil.
Now GOVT is showing/asking people to save the Petrol. But before they should educate people how to save them.
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Old 26th March 2009, 16:28   #3
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Well, to start with, hybrids are over-hyped. Nope, they aren't going to save the world. And yes, even though their emissions are lower, they still do pollute.

Why should hybrids be duty-free at all? If Honda can build a relatively low volume Accord out here, why not the Civic hybrid? You want to sell it here, you build it here. And if the govt. does waive off duties on hybrids, we'll have all sorts of manufacturers fitting small hybrid motors on their cars....ONLY to save on duty. Further, we'll have another problem where duty-free hybrids work out cheaper than building a non-hybrid locally and thus, no one will be setting up manufacturing / assembly operations in India at all.

Quote:
will give more mileage (around 25kmpl)
Whoever gave you that information? Realistically, a Civic Hybrid will give 15 kpl in the city (if driven very sedately).
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Old 26th March 2009, 16:45   #4
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After seeing the political apathy towards the Reva on Indian roads (yes, its more expensive to own one here than in London), no car maker is going to be bothered about using clean renewable energy for their vehicles. Heck, if the civilian government doesnt bother, why should they? (ditto for safety regulations in cars et all).
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Old 26th March 2009, 22:00   #5
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If hybrids are made duty free then they would not be manufactured here and would provide employement to foreign workers and not our indian workers and would also result in higher imports which is already a problem for our country.It would also result in reduced car production in the country as people would love such high mileage cars.Instead the government should give tax breaks for local hybrid car manufacturers.
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Old 26th March 2009, 23:21   #6
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The government should consider it - for a short while. For some reason Honda and Toyota only make hybrids in Japan AFAIK. GOI can give them a window of four years or so and allow them to import hybrids duty free. That way the car makers can test the market, customers can get used to the tech and after 4 years the car maker will find it difficult to walk away and they'll seriously consider local production.

Hybrids aren't a panacea but they are a valid stepping stone. That reasoning may go out the window the day we have true clean diesels in this country with particulate matter filters et al.
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Old 27th March 2009, 00:18   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Max View Post
I was wondering, why government of india is not making hybrid cars import duty free. Hybrid cars will pollute less, will give more mileage (around 25kmpl) (reduce fuel bills) and will cost around rs.10 lakhs (approx $20000) if import duty is waived. What do you think?
I think - The duty isnt there because a car pollutes more or less.

It is there inorder to prevent oversupply on the roads (quantity of cars).

For pollution, there are BS3, BS4 norms etc.
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Old 27th March 2009, 01:15   #8
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check out Hyundai’s BLUE-WILL

source:

Eco Cars: Hyundai?s BLUE-WILL To Come With Solar Panels And Recycled Materials - Ecofriend

quote from web site article -
Quote:
Eco Factor: Hybrid car uses recycled materials in construction.

Taking advantage of the most recent in automotive technologies, Hyundai will be showcasing its latest creation, the Hyundai BLUE-WILL, at the Seoul Auto Show. The hybrid concept will be powered by a gasoline/electric engine. Coming with a 100Kw electric motor and a 1.6-liter direct-injection petrol engine, the car is set to burn the roads at a high speed and a decent operating range.






GTO is correct about, bringing production facilities in India. I never thought about it. If government will wave import duty foreign manufacturers will not setup plants in India.

anyway, I love to see hybrids being built in India, there should be good reason why they are not making hybrids here!
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Old 27th March 2009, 02:14   #9
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Also, if people are so concerned about pollution, why do they run away from Reva?
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Old 27th March 2009, 03:06   #10
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All of them - Didn't you know ?

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Originally Posted by aerohit View Post
Because, 123 (24%) out of 543 Members of Parliament are criminals - Jago!
Because 543 (100%) out of 543 Members of Parliament are Petrol Dealers !
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Old 27th March 2009, 07:30   #11
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first of all they should give subsidiary to our very own Reva.
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Old 27th March 2009, 08:04   #12
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First of all, forget the hybrid cars getting a duty cut. The very Indian electric car is not given any incentive, how will the great Indian government allow duty free hybrid cars ?

There will be a lot less emession. IMHO, there is a vast majority who have Rs. 10 lakh cars as their city car i.e. second car. For them these hybrid cars will help much by lower consumption and less emessions. Whatever little the hybrid cars help, its worth it.

The primary reason for not allowing the duty free culture :
1) Government wont get a lot of money.
2) Generation of electricity in India is not done by, lets say nuclear plants, but mainly by burning coal. So the plug-in hybrids are best averted for India.

Even if a hybrid is available in India, I am not the potential customer because of Indian operating conditions, mainly during monsoon. The maintenance cost will go up just like anything.
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Old 27th March 2009, 10:33   #13
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India is not ready for hybrids/electric cars. We barely have decent roads, forget about infrastructure for these cars and electricity filling stations or whatever they are called.

As for duties, build it here if you wanna sell it here, or else get out like the civic.
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Old 27th March 2009, 11:34   #14
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[quote=GTO;1231927]Well, to start with, hybrids are over-hyped. Nope, they aren't going to save the world. And yes, even though their emissions are lower, they still do pollute.

Well this is a new theory. Whole world is concerned about global warming and pollution and suffering from it as well. America and Europe are coming up with new innovations and technologies to address this issue. Hybrid cars may be a small step in this direction, but you can't negate their contribution to zero. Further I believe hybrid cars are laying a solid platform for fully electric cars of the future. Who knows we might be able to harness solar energy much more efficiently as well.
Of course this will not happen in a day, but step by step we can complete the journey..
Other way around is to label these as overhyped and dump these in cold storage and wait till oil resources dry up. And then think about correctives to be taken.
Truly shocking !!
 
Old 27th March 2009, 12:29   #15
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Before something like this even considered the government should reduce taxes/duties that impact local production.

I don't think any one would buy a locally manufactured petrol Civic for Rs. 12 lacs when an imported Hybrid Civic one can be had for Rs. 10 lacs thus killing the local industry.
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