DURING her speech, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman introduced the Auto Budget 2023 for the fiscal year 2023-24. There are numerous new modifications made to the railways, green energy, carbon emissions reduction, promotion of green and clean energy options, air connectivity, energy transition, National Green Hydrogen Mission, and scrapping of outdated government cars and ambulances that one should be aware of.
Here are the key highlights of the Auto Budget announced today during the speech of the Finance Minister.
1. The rate of duties on Completely Built Unit (CBU) automobiles that cost more than USD 40,000 or have engines that are more powerful than 3000 cc for petrol-powered vehicles and 2500cc for diesel-powered vehicles, or both, has gone up from 60% to 70%.
2. The import duties of the Semi-Knocked Down (SKD) form vehicles have also witnessed a hike from 30 to 35 percent.
3. The duties on the Completely Built Unit EVs which are capped over USD 40,000 have increased from 60 to 70 percent while the Semi-Knocked Down EVs have witnessed a hike of 30 to 35 percent.
4. The Centre has now allotted 3.3 percent of the total GDP, around Rs 10 lakh crore to the infrastructure. Additionally, 100 new projects have been announced for the last mile connectivity. With a significantly increased expenditure of Rs 1.3 lakh crore, it offers state governments a 50-year interest-free loan for one more year in order to encourage them to take complementing policy steps and to promote infrastructure investment.
5. The National Green Hydrogen Mission, with a budget of Rs. 19,700 crore, aims to produce 5 MMT of hydrogen annually by 2030.
6. Additionally, the Center has allocated Rs 35,000 crore as capital investment towards net-zero and energy transition goals.
7. By waiving the basic customs charge on denatured ethyl alcohol, the finance minister has further encouraged the use of ethanol mixing.