The Indian road transport industry is anticipating major policy changes in the upcoming GST Council meeting, with a long-pending demand from the All India Transporters Welfare Association (AITWA) taking center stage. The association has urged the Council to reduce the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on trucks from the current 28% to 18%, highlighting that trucks are neither luxury goods nor sin items.
AITWA has also demanded a similar rationalization for truck tyres, which are currently taxed at 28%.
“We hope there will be a reduction of GST on trucks. With this, we anticipate a fresh wave of truck purchases by small truck owners who were slowly becoming unviable. India’s trucking backbone is the small fleet owners and their well-being would finally be taken care of,” said Abhishek Gupta, General Secretary, AITWA.
According to the association, lowering GST on trucks would not only revive small fleet owners but also help bring down logistics costs in the coming quarters, ensuring a more level playing field across the sector.
Ashok Goyal, National President of AITWA, added: “We are hopeful that the GST Council shall give due importance to the trucking industry and take some positive steps to boost truck demand by reducing GST rates to 18% in the upcoming Council meeting. This will also help boost India’s self-reliant demand over exports. Currently, members are delaying purchases which may impact in the short term, but I don’t foresee any reduction in demand going forward.”
AITWA has also pressed for reforms to ease compliance, particularly with regard to the e-way bill mechanism, which it terms “draconian” for the economy. Gupta emphasized that a simpler and smoother logistics framework will be essential for India to strengthen resilience and achieve its $5 trillion economy target.
The industry now awaits the Council’s deliberations, with hopes pinned on a tax correction that could rejuvenate the trucking sector.
