As per a recent internal note released by the Planning Commission, personal cars consume mere 0.6 percent of the total diesel consumed in the Indian market. The recently released note has contradicated the perception that personal cars benefit the most from the subsidy offered on diesel by the government.
It is to be mentioned here that the recent Kirit Parikh Committee report on diesel consumption had stated that the passenger vehicle segment accounts for up to 15 percent consumption of the fuel in the Indian market, quite a bit higher compared to the stats revealed in the recent internal note of Planning Commission, but since there was no further break down, it was not possible to further interpret these numbers.
The recently released note further informs that while the goods segment accounts for the maximum consumption of diesel at 37.9%, the agriculture segment comes second at 18.8%. Passenger buses are also a major contributor in the diesel consumption at 6 percent.
While the Kirit Parikh Committee report offered a cumulative figure of 15 percent, the planning commission note has further segmented this consumption to 2.1 percent by taxis, 2.5 percent by jeeps/MUVs, 3.6% by three-wheelers, 6.8% by power segment, 3.7% by railways, 5.6% by industries and others 12.5%.
According to Mr. Vishnu Mathur, directorgeneral of Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), "When the overall usage of diesel by personal cars is so low, at less than 1%, where is the argument to tax them higher . The fact is that personal diesel cars are not the major beneficiaries of the government subsidy, as is made out to be."
