In a key step to boost green transportation and adoption of eco-friendly vehicles, the Uttar Pradesh government has announced a waiver of road tax on hybrid cars.

The state, through a directive, is reportedly offering a "100 per cent waiver on registration fees for strong hybrid electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles”.

The move is set to benefit hybrid cars being offered by automakers like Maruti, Toyota and Honda.

Maruti Suzuki has a popular hybrid model like Grand Vitara and Toyota offers Innova Hycross and Urban Cruiser Hyryder.

The average registration cost for the hybrid trims of Grand Vitara and Urban Cruiser Hyryder is about Rs 1.80 lakh in UP. The road tax waiver will significantly bring down the cost of these cars.

The Innova Hycross and Invicto buyers are likely to benefit up to Rs 3 lakh in on-road prices, depending on the variant.

Since this is an amendment to the existing EV policy, the relaxation in registration costs will be valid till October 2025.

According to the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA), this policy will boost strong hybrid vehicle sales in UP, even though the market is currently small.

“Most buyers of such vehicles are not first-time owners. This move by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is set to aid the auto sector,” according to FADA.

Kunal Behl, Vice President, Marketing & Sales, Honda Cars India, said, “Waving off 100 per cent road tax on strong hybrid vehicles is a milestone decision by the Uttar Pradesh government which will encourage adoption of these environment-friendly vehicles.”

“This is also aligned with our global commitment to sustainable mobility and our global vision of achieving zero carbon emissions by 2050,” said Behl.

This progressive step marks a significant milestone in Uttar Pradesh's journey towards a greener future.

--IANS