Symbolism rules the budget – automotively!

So we have had that annual exciting feature which in so many ways either affects our well being or effects massive changes and turmoil on a national scale. I am referring to the annual national budget which this year was laid out in parliament only yesterday thanks to the general elections, its code of conduct and what have you necessitating the change from end-February, early-March convention to July.
 
Convention or not, what this means to all of us ZigWheelers is the fact that the status quo has been maintained. In terms of excise duty rates for cars and bikes but not for, wait for it – petrol engined trucks! I will get to the hilarious bit on the latter but for sure there was a chance that we could have seen a clear manifestation of a uniform excise rate across all categories of automobiles irrespective of cubic capacity, size and price. Industry cannot be bifurcated on such counts and more importantly mindsets shouldn’t be subject to size and weight while being further held hostage to so called issues of what constitutes efficiency.
 
The good thing is the status quo, in that there are no additional taxes, levies, etc but please do wait before rejoicing because certain state taxes could be readying to deliver the unseen killer blow coming the way of all automotive buffs. Let’s hope there is no pain from this angle.
 
The symbolism bit which I spoke about is the grand reduction of not one or two rupees but a whopping total of Rs 5,000 being reduced from the additional duty applicable on cars having engines of 2000cc and more! First off, the adoption of the Rs 20,000 additional duty on such cars in itself was draconian because what exactly did the government achieve to tilt the financial scales in its favour given that just under 2 to 3 per cent of all cars sold in India are powered by engines of 2000cc and above. Taxing cars has been taken to ridiculous heights with more often than it seems illogical means and many a time I do wonder whether we have indeed shunned our socialist past.
 
Giving back Rs 5000 must mean a tankful or two of super premium fuel to those who buy a Rs 20-lakh plus automobile and this is pretty strong in the symbolism which is misplaced and dubious. It would have been better for Pranab babu to NOT have given this largesse! And all the time you all must have thought I was going to state something else. Heck I am just as much for the government’s coffers to be full but giving this much money away should be a huge catastrophe which mustn’t then, next year, impact the finance minister’s judgement to go down a notch to say cars with 1500cc engines and tax them with a Rs 15,000 additional duty hike!
 
The most hilarious or dubious break the automotive sector has been handed is the reduction of excise duty on “petrol” engined trucks to 8 per cent from 20 per cent. I don’t think that anyone today makes any petrol engined trucks at all but if vans and such are taken into account, maybe the unintended beneficiary could be Maruti Suzuki who just coincidentally manufactures the panel vans based on the Omni. A snide remark by an acquaintance also questioned whether India’s largest car maker was contemplating to launch a rival to the Tata Ace, albeit powered by a petrol engine? Strange things have happened and maybe the finance minister’s tax rationale could indeed help see a brand new low end petrol-engined commercial vehicle from Maruti Suzuki. If that does manifest itself then it would prove beyond doubt that truth is indeed stranger than fiction. So let’s wait for things to pan out on this symbolic front.