[goingout]

I think there is a big flaw in what our minister has said!

He says these expensive cars use diesel which is cheaper because of subsidy but he doesn't acknowledge the fact that these cars are imported into India by paying a huge amount of tax and duty.

If you consider the amount of duty a big imported SUV or Luxury Car pays I think it well enough covers up for the cheaper diesel!

[vinaydas]

A Big yes.
But not only SUV's all the Swift Vdi's ,i20 Crdi's and Innovas ought to pay the market price.

Even in the 20-50+ lac segment market there is a huge demand for diesels. People,stop being cheap. You already spent around 20-50+ lacs for your car .You definitely can afford another lac or two on petrol.

Now the question arises whether Myself,personally would buy a diesel? Yes Definitely for the Engine characteristics(Bang for your buck). The subsidized diesel is only an added quirk.

[anonymous]

Originally Posted by anonymous

This is clearly no. Why subsidy on Diesel which is meant for someone else(Farmers, Public Transports etc) is being used by people who can afford to pay more for their transport.

Looks like I made a blunder here. Instead of choosing "Yes", I chose "No". This Poll itself is quite confusing IMHO.
So now I stand corrected and my vote goes to Yes

[jaysmokesleaves]

How does Mr.Jairam Ramesh plan to enforce this incase they do decide to implement his new diesel price concept..?
Will there be special FARMER PUMPS FOR DISPENSING DIESEL ?
Thats another way to start black marketing business.
Because not only do suv's use diesel, the entire public & goods transport system uses diesel.
I think if Jairam is so interested in levying taxes on High end diesel suv's, they might as well charge a flat diesel levy at the time of registration of high end diesel vehicles.

How daft can they get. WHy dont they try getting all the black money stashed in the Swiss bank and give the farmers free diesel instead.. .. there.. do you smell another scam.

[adimicra]

My vote goes to 'YES' for sure.
But why only SUVs? Starting from the small hatches (Swift/Ritz) to the Mercs and BMW's everyone should be paying the market price.
The subsidy is not for people who have the moolah to buy a diesel car for personal use.
I hate the sight at a petrol bunk when an ultra rich guy in a Merc/BMW/Audi pays less than the market price of diesel. And where does the subsidy come from? From the pockets of taxpayers like me. It feels as if money is taken from a middle class person and put in the pocket of a rich person for no reason

This needs to end and end soon. The problem I guess is the complexity involved regarding the implementation of whatever policy the Govt comes up with.

[asr245]

Originally Posted by goingout

I think there is a big flaw in what our minister has said!

He says these expensive cars use diesel which is cheaper because of subsidy but he doesn't acknowledge the fact that these cars are imported into India by paying a huge amount of tax and duty.

If you consider the amount of duty a big imported SUV or Luxury Car pays I think it well enough covers up for the cheaper diesel!

Imported petrol vehicles bear the same amount of duty, so should they get subsidized petrol. And he's talking about Indian SUV's too though this tax should be applicable for diesel cars too.

Once in a while a minister talks some logic and I still see some people complaining

[CARDEEP]

I voted "Yes", even though I wish to own one soon.

Also, IMO not only the SUV owners, but, all private vehicles owners running a diesel engine should be paying more, & subsidised diesel should be reserved for the Agricultural & Commercial sector only.

[mjothi]

Originally Posted by Spitfire

Should every household pay market price for LPG?

Should every household pay market price for electricity?

Should every household pay market price for water?

Should every household pay market price for kerosene?

Do these have alternates?

But for cars/diesel, you do have in plenty. Got it?

Btw, whats about the market price for water???? I cant get it..

[Samurai]

It is really a dumb idea because it can't be implemented.

1) People will buy diesel in cans and then fill it at home. Will result in spillage, wastage and contamination.
2) It will lead to black market and middle men who will buy in cans and then sell to SUV buyers at premium, but below SUV market rate.

And what about the huge diesel generators used by virtually every office building? How are they going to charge them, SUV rate or lorry rate?

Selling a given commodity at different prices to public will simply lead to Arbitrage.

[AWD]

Questions on "implementation" are not difficult to be answered. Ration the subsidized commodity! There are Govt. bodies like ARAI, etc. who calculate Fuel averages & a cost/acre, hectare could be framed. For transporters again, fuel averages & distances covered. This gives a rough idea to work on. Savings for the Govt. are going to be huge, even after taking into pilferages, etc. Army also gets subsidized fuel, pilferage is a low percentage. We simply cannot put it on lack of implementation & say this can't be done.

This is a right move & a solution has to/can be found.

Moreover this more will discourage the indiscriminate sale of fuel guzzling machines. Don't we all want a clean, future happy environment!

The Govt. can also start by increasing taxes on environmental un-friendly vehicles & rewarding the friendly ones!

[RW9763]

Agreed but why only SUV's ? Should it not apply for all passenger cars? The diesel was regulated in the interest of Transport for the masses since in India our primary mode of transport is road it is essential to keep the diesel cheap so that our basic commodity prices should not shoot up.
The gensets which consume so much of diesel should also be regulated.

Hon'ble Mr. Minister,

Please find better things to create a ruckus and not just for publicity. We all know this can never happen since the pumps for trucks and cars are same and the Congress common man can never be caused inconvenience!!

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by AWD

Questions on "implementation" are not difficult to be answered. Ration the subsidized commodity! There are Govt. bodies like ARAI, etc. who calculate Fuel averages & a cost/acre, hectare could be framed. For transporters again, fuel averages & distances covered. This gives a rough idea to work on. Savings for the Govt. are going to be huge, even after taking into pilferages, etc. Army also gets subsidized fuel, pilferage is a low percentage. We simply cannot put it on lack of implementation & say this can't be done.

It can't be done for saving money, but it can be done for show. New government departments will be created for rationing fuel, they will suck away any savings. Most trucks run overloaded, in bad traffic conditions, so ARAI numbers will be meaningless.

If you really know how these feel good laws are "implemented" by the government, you would be thinking otherwise.

[AWD]

Originally Posted by Samurai

It can't be done for saving money, but it can be done for show. If you really know how these feel good laws are "implemented" by the government, you would be thinking otherwise.

There are certainly going to be savings to both the Govt. coffers & environment, atleast its better than giving a free run to super-rich.

Ways & means for implementation can be devised. Why should fuel be supplied at a susidized rate to the ones who don't need/deserve!

Im all for this policy, subsidize only for the ones who need.

[vishnurp99]

New Idea!. Why don't we charge the car making companies instead of the car buying public with retrospective effect?. For eg let's say there's a diff of 80k between swift diesel and Petrol with the same specs.The govt should look at the profitability of maruti when they sell a swift diesel vis a vis a swift petrol. Let's say the profitability is 10% for petrol but 20% for diesel(because of the higher diesel prices). The government takes this money from the car manufacturer in the form of a levy and gives it to the car owner as a tax refund. This is necessary because the poor car owner had gone for a diesel in the first place because of the less pricing for diesel and the main guy who made money out of this is the car manufacturer.

At the sametime government brings diesel/petrol prices on PAR(increase the tax on diesel also. more money for govt ) and comes out with some rule saying that diesel would subsidised for commercial vehicles(goods carriers/trailers etc). The commercial vehicle should have commercial vehicle written in bold on all 4 sides(again new rule for this). This will make sure that people don't misuse this as a personal vehicle unless they are totally shameless.

[muralisk]

While I agree with the idea of SUV owners (and at least all personal diesel car owners) to pay market linked price, the biggest challenge is implementation. we need to develop a fool-proof method and ensure that we try and restrict black-marketing to the maximum that is possible. One other way to get rid of the differential pricing for all and try and give discount to public transport and farmers based on UIDs that are being rolled out.