Suriya: Cut import duties on natural gas vehicles to boost use
Caretaker Deputy Prime Minister and Industry Minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit is pushing to reduce to 10 per cent the duty on imported natural gas-powered vehicles (NGV) to support the government's energy-saving policy.
Suriya proposed yesterday that the tariff for imported NGV cars be reduced from 40 per cent to 10 per cent. The cut would be a temporary measure for a period of 18 months, he said. "Initially, the government will allow the import of about 1,000 mini-buses," he said. In addition, Suriya the government would consider cutting tariffs for some types of imported engines and chassis from 20-30 per cent to zero to support local modifiers of passenger cars. "These tariff cuts can reduce production costs by Bt200,000 per unit," he said, adding that competitive prices should not be above Bt2.2 million a car while an imported finished car is sold for about Bt2 million. Currently, a mini-bus body is priced at Bt1 million. Suriya said that if the tariff were cut to zero, the modifiers should be able to reduce the cost by Bt200,000. "This rate cut should be enough to help local car modifiers. If they are not sufficiently competitive, it's time they improved their performance," he said. The Bangkok Mass Transit Authority is studying whether to change its passenger fleet to NGV buses. Such a change would save about Bt14 million a day in fuel costs.
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