Zee Media Bureau
New Delhi: The Government on Wednesday extended excise duty concession on automobiles, capital and consumer goods for six months till December 31, 2014.
The excise duty concessions, which were granted in February this year, were to have lapsed on June 30.
In the Interim Budget, excise duty on small cars, scooters, motorcycles and commercial vehicles were cut to 8 percent from 12 percent earlier.
The same for SUVs was slashed to 24 percent from 30 percent, while on large cars it was reduced to 24 percent from 27 percent earlier and mid-sized cars to 20 percent from 24 percent previously.
Last year, the auto industry had clocked a turnover of Rs 4,00,000 crore, while the total investment in the last five years on the sector is to the tune of Rs 70,000 crore.
India's automobile industry has been struggling from a prolonged market slump. Car sales in India fell for the second consecutive fiscal in 2013-14 with a drop of 4.65 percent at 17,86,899 units as compared to 18,74,055 units in the previous fiscal.
In the 2012-13, car sales in India fell 6.69 percent, which was the first decline in a decade.
Last month car sales in India, however, grew 3.08 percent snapping two successive months of fall riding on positive sentiments over formation of a stable government at the Centre and lower excise duty in the Interim Budget.
