By IANS,
New Delhi : The union budget has failed to take steps to stop the misuse of diesel subsidy by private cars, said advocacy organisation Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) Saturday.
Calling the budget as a mixed bag, Anumita Roychowdhury, head of CSE’s sustainable mobility team, said they supported the tax hike on big cars and sports utility vehicles but the step may not check misuse of diesel subsidy by private vehicles.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee Friday announced an increase in excise duty on large cars from 22 percent to 24 percent. Sports utility vehicles would attract higher duty — up to 27 percent.
“This is urgently needed to discourage fuel guzzling and reduce toxic emissions,” she said.
“The budget has ignored that ‘dieselization’ is rapidly growing in the small and medium segments of cars and has left it untouched. The proposed tax hike will only affect cars with engine sizes of more than 1,500 cc for diesel and 1,200 cc for petrol,” she said.
Despite the recession, diesel car sales had jumped 34 percent in 2010-11.