Mahindra hopes GST won\\’t treat electric cars as luxury items

\ Kolkata, Oct 28 (PTI) Automobile major Mahindra hopes\that the proposed GST regime will not treat electric cars as\luxury items and therefore, it should be taxed accordingly.\ \\"We hope that the upcoming GST regime will not treat\electric cars as luxury items and will not be taxed at high\rates,\\" Mahesh Babu, CEO-designate of Mahindra Electric, told\reporters here today.\ Launching the \\’e2o Plus\\’ hatchback electric car here\today, he said that the initial cost of acquisition of such\cars are very high, compared to conventional ones in the same\category.\ \\"The cost price of an electric car is pretty steep even\after passing on the special incentive given by the government\to the buyer. But the cost of ownership is very low,\\" Babu\said.\ The sole automobile company manufacturing electric cars\in India, has products in four categories with an approximate\customer base of 6,000 to 7,000, he said.\ He said that the company had also reserved a variant of\the model for fleet operators, which would have toned down\features as compared to owner-driven cars.\ Last year, there had been a growth of 53 per cent in the\sale of electric cars across the globe, Babu said.\ The variants had been priced between Rs 6.96 lakh and Rs\9.67 lakh ex-showroom Kolkata. PTI dc MD\JM\