With the motive to encourage the environment-friendly automobile fuel, Auto LPG industry is looking forward and behesting for the contraction in GST rates on LPG conversion kits for automobiles from the current 28% to 5%.
The measure taken by the government to boost the use of Auto LPG for the clean quality of India’s urban air is worth-praising as it is not only cheap source which costs up to 50% lesser than the cost of Petrol and is even cheaper than Diesel in running costs but also a clean source of energy, safeguarding the environment. But at the same time, the high GST rate on LPG conversion is not serving expected results. Instead, it is almost contrary to these government measures.
Indian Auto LPG Coalition, the nodal body for the promotion of Auto LPG in India, also admitted that high GST rates are obstructing conversion to LPG, which is much cleaner as well as a cheaper transport fuel as compared to petrol. The committee has also shown its disapproval on keeping economical and non-polluting fuel under the slab with the highest GST.
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“An auto LPG conversion kit is not a luxury item which is placed under the highest GST slab. At a time, when our cities have been reeling under the impact of harmful vehicular emissions, all efforts must be initiated to push consumers towards using cleaner fuels. Conversion of vehicles to auto LPG has to be promoted by making them more affordable and easily available,” said Suyash Gupta, Director General of Indian Auto LPG Coalition.
Keeping this pure fuel under the highest GST rate increases the costs of conversion kits and in turn de-motivates consumers from using them. “Auto LPG is a very clean transport fuel with almost negligible particulate material emissions, and can bring about immediate improvements in air quality,” he said.
The association appreciates these measures to adopt the environment favourable fuels which have actually defended the environment from adverse effects of petrol and diesel. The association confirms many optimistic changes in the quality of air in several urban countries which includes South Korea with a record of 4 million tonnes annual sales of this fuel and Turkey where almost 40% of all private vehicles run on auto LPG.
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“Another detrimental policy that is hindering the growth of auto LPG is the archaic Type Approval norms governing vehicle conversions to gaseous fuels. The Type Approval norms of the Ministry of Road Transport in India require companies to renew extremely cost prohibitive Type Approvals for Auto LPG and CNG conversions every three years. This has resulted in a rapid dwindling of players in the retro-fitment market,” the statement said.
Suyash Gupta put forth his following views:
- With the support of Government in the form of alterations in the policy, auto LPG can evolve into a feasible and easy adaptable source of energy for vehicles.
- Even if India has a distant dream of All-Electric by 2030, there should be readily environment concerned fuel available for short-run.
- Galvanizing auto LPG conversion is one of the most practical and convenient keys to solving our air quality issues.
LPG is a clean automotive fuel with imperceptible harmful emissions such as CO2, oxides of sulfur and nitrogen and suspended particulate matter. It emits very low levels of nitrogen dioxides (NOx), almost 90% lesser than diesel and 68% lesser than petrol. Also, auto LPG emits about 22% lesser carbon dioxide (CO2) than petrol.
High savings of up to 40% over petrol justifies Auto LPG to becomes most widely used alternative fuel for automobiles which can also be helpful in reducing India’s import bill. LPG serves improved engine life and performance. Reduced GST rate on Conversion from Petrol to LPG will make the conversion easy at reasonable price and accessibility is also not a hassle because of the conveniently located dispensing stations.
