Auto

On the back of excise duty cuts, drop in lending rates and new vehicle launches over the last six months, the industry has seen a revival of sorts with vehicle sales experiencing double digit growth between February and April.

While auto companies want the government to continue with the 8 per cent excise duty for smaller cars, they want the benefit to be extended to larger cars and utility vehicles; current duty is about 22 per cent.

However, some believe that the government might hike duties as a few manufacturers did not pass on the benefits of the duty cuts on small cars to consumers on their best selling models.

The industry's biggest pain point, however, has been the medium and heavy commercial vehicles which saw a 33 per cent y-o-y volume drop in 2008-09. The depreciation benefit on new CVs, which was extended to September from March 2009, could be pushed to March 2010.

The sector has also been asking for concession for UVs used in rural areas, rationalisation of VAT and provisions to boost vehicle exports.