Uttar Pradesh government has announced that there will be no changes or recalls on the zero-registration tax policy for strong hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles. The government will continue with this hybrid policy till October 2025. The state will also offer no road tax policy for electric vehicles. This decision was a major setback for the EV lobby which consists of Tata Motors, Mahindra, Hyundai and Kia.
Reduction of carbon footprint is a priority
Major automobile manufacturers like Hyundai, Kia, Tata Motors, Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki, Honda and Bajaj Auto held a meeting with UP Chief Secretary Manoj Kumar Singh on the state’s decision to give rebates on strong hybrid vehicles and how it will affect electric vehicles. After a long meeting with the concerned stakeholders, the government has decided to continue with its current hybrid and EV policy where both types of vehicles will receive a zero-registration tax waiver. The officials stated that this policy will not tilt in favour of any one technology because the main aim is to increase the penetration of eco-friendly vehicles in the state. The government also confirmed that the waiver will continue till October 2025.
Chief Secretary explained that the tax benefit policy on alternate fuel vehicles will keep on evolving along with the technology. The government will also keep a check on the sales of EVs and hybrid vehicles. Earlier at the launch of the Tata Curvv EV, Shailesh Chandra, Managing Director, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles and Tata Passenger Electric Mobility exclusively
spoke to Express Drives saying that hybrid (vehicles) is a 20-year-old technology, and its source of power is 100 per cent petrol. He further confirmed that Tata Motors has no interest in introducing this technology, “We don’t want to sell (hybrids)”.
UP govt hybrid policy
In June 2024, the Uttar Pradesh government announced massive tax exemptions for strong hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles by waiving registration tax. Currently, the state charges 8 per cent road tax on vehicles under Rs 10 lakh and 10 per cent on those above Rs 10 lakh. Keeping this in mind, hybrid vehicle buyers will now save a substantial amount of money anything from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 3 lakh. This is a big boost for popular strong hybrid SUVs like the Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara and the Toyota Hyryder. Other vehicles that will be able to avail of these benefits are the Honda City hybrid, Maruti Invicto and the Toyota Innova Hycross.