MUMBAI: Buying new cars is set to become even more expensive, with the Maharashtra Motor Vehicle Tax or road tax being raised for both petrol and diesel vehicles from May 1. Moreover, owners will also have to shell out more for petrol and diesel, the prices of which are likely to go up. The development, car manufacturers believe, could hit demand to some extent.

Intensifying the protest against European Union’s imposition of carbon tax on airlines flying into their airspace, India, China and Russia may soon respond together with a retaliatory fee on European carriers, making it difficult for them to fly east. The move, which has the potential to dent the business of EU air carriers, is expected to be announced after 27 protesting countries, including the USA, Canada, UAE, Japan, Singapore and Thailand, meet in Moscow on February 21 and 22 to chalk out retaliatory measures to the carbon tax.

Following meetings with both minister for aviation Ajit Singh and environment minister Jayanti Natarajan on the controversial carbon emissions levy that EU has introduced, Connie Hedegaard, European Union climate action commissioner, claimed the tax is inevitable “as aviation is increasing and emissions from aviation are also increasing.”

India, along with the international community, led by International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICOU), has fiercely opposed the tax introduced from January 1 with airlines accusing the EU of having taken an extra territorial decision.

The Centre for Science and Environment has sought additional tax on diesel cars, saying the fuel was causing losses to the exchequer besides affecting public health. The demand has riled carmakers that rebut the charge. The Delhi-based non-government organisation has demanded . 81,000 tax on smaller diesel vehicles and double the amount on fuel-guzzling multi-utility vehicles and sportsutility vehicles. PSU oil marketing companies sell diesel at a discount of . 14.57 per litre, a part of which is paid by the government.

New Delhi: The clamour for making diesel cars dearer is getting louder just ahead of the Budget, with environment lobbyists and sections of the government advocating higher taxes to compensate for the subsidy the fuel enjoys. While the petroleum ministry is believed to have advocated a raise in excise duty on diesel cars to compensate oil companies that have to keep diesel prices low, environment lobby Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has also pressed the government for a higher tax on diesel cars.

New Delhi: They may be branded as villains by the environmental lobby, but personal cars consume a paltry 0.6% of the diesel consumed in the country, an internal Planning Commission note said. The note shows that personal cars are the lowest consumers of diesel, a far cry from the charges that they benefit the most from the subsidy that the government accords to the fuel. According to the note, goods vehicles consume the maximum 37.9% while agriculture accounts for 18.8%. Buses, another crucial consumer of the fuel, account for 6%.

MUMBAI: The Maharashtra

government on Wednesday decided to levy environment tax on commercial vehicles
which are over eight years old and private vehicles which are over 15 years.

Given that there are over 6 lakh commercial and 15 lakh
private vehicles in the specified age category, around 21 lakh vehicles are set
to pay the

Some of the world

Deterrent against manufacture of guzzlers.

Arun S
Anil Sasi

New Delhi, Nov. 20 It could soon be a tough road ahead for vehicles with low fuel efficiency.

The Government is considering a proposal to introduce a new tax on such vehicles to ensure that they are phased out. This tax could be a deterrent against manufacture of fuel-guzzling vehicles.