Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Minister Praful Patel has favoured vehicles priced below Rs 10 lakh being exempted from the sports utility vehicles (SUV) tax announced in the Union Budget.
“I certainly feel there is a need to look at the excise duty on SUV. To begin with, there is no classification of SUV in the Motor Vehicles Act,” he said on sidelines of the Hero Mindmine Summit here.
He supported the automobile industry, which is bleeding. This was because of slow demand and the increase in excise duty to 30 per cent from 27 per cent earlier on SUVs.
The Minister said the SUV tax has hurt vehicles like Tata Sumo and Mahindra and Mahindra’s Bolero, which are used in rural areas to transport people.