High taxes creating affordability issue for aspiring car owners: MSI

Passenger vehicles currently attract top GST rate of 28% with cess ranging from 1% on those less than four metres in length with petrol engine to 22% on big SUVs longer than four metres

Taxes on cars in India, which are higher than in any other vehicle manufacturing country in the world, have created affordability issue for many aspiring car owners, according to Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) Chairman RC Bhargava.

If the contribution of the manufacturing sector to the country's GDP is to reach 25 per cent by 2025, then car sales need to grow faster, he said while addressing shareholders in the company's annual report for 2019-20.

Commenting on high taxes, Bhargava said, "Even before 2019-20, the tax on cars in India was far higher than in any other car manufacturing country in