The Government of India today announced an interim budget for 2014 that comes as a joy for the Indian two-wheeler manufacturers. The finance minister has announced to reduce the excise duty of two-wheelers to 8 per cent from the current 12 per cent.
"To give relief to the automobile industry, which is registering unprecedented negative growth, I propose to reduce excise duty," P. Chidambaram, Finance Minister said.
Commenting on the excise cut, Mr. Shirish Kulkarni, Chairman DSK Hyosung, said, “We at DSK Hyosung welcome this change which comes as a great relief to the Automobile Industry that has been suffering from negative growth. We will ensure that thebenefits of reduction in excise duty from 12 to 8 per cent are made available to our customers.”
Times have been hard for the Indian Automobile industry. Though unlike four-wheelers, the two-wheeler industry has managed to maintain a positive growth in sales. Sales of motorcycle grew by 4 per cent while those of scooters were way better, seeing a 28 per cent growth last month compared to January 2013. This stimulus is likely to boost the industry growing, though it will be interesting to see whether these changes reflect in the final budget of 2014, which will be announced on March 31. Few Indian manufacturers have already pledged to reduce the price of the vehicles once this new tax structures comes to effect. This is a win-win situation for manufacturers as well as the Indian consumers who always have to the take burden of rising inflation and taxes.
