Air-conditioners may cost more in Delhi

The Delhi government is considering increase in tax on air-conditioners, which are selling like hot-cakes with mercury sky-rocketing. “The sale of air-conditioners has increased by around 20-25% in last 15 days or so,” said Gaurav Kapoor, a wholesaler seller of air-conditioners in north Delhi. Chetan Chauhan reports.

Updated on: May 31, 2013, 20:02:11 IST

Hindustan Times | By Chetan Chauhan, New Delhi

Prefer HTon Google

Share via

Copy link

Air-conditioners in Delhi may soon be costlier.

The Delhi government is considering increase in tax on air-conditioners, which are selling like hot-cakes with mercury sky-rocketing. “The sale of air-conditioners has increased by around 20-25% in last 15 days or so,” said Gaurav Kapoor, a wholesaler seller of air-conditioners in north Delhi.

This was indicated by Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit at the annual plan meeting for the city at the Planning Commission on Friday. Sources said the CM said that there was a huge spurt in sales of air-conditioners whereas that of inverters was dipping as power supply has become more reliable.

To off-set the tax revenue loss from fall in sale of inverters the Delhi government was considering hike in tax for air-conditioners. The value added tax (VAT) --- contributes 64% to total revenue collection in Delhi --- on air-conditioners is 12.5%.

The increasing sale of air-conditioners, considered energy guzzlers, is an apparent cause for demand for power during night hours being higher than during day time. On average Delhi consumed over 5,500 MW every day this summer, more than half of which was during night hours.

Plan panel deputy chairperson Montek Singh Ahluwalia, however, expressed satisfaction over power situation in Delhi and attributed it successful public private partnership (PPP) model. His advisor Gajendra Haldea had questioned the same PPP model when it was adopted and even moved public interest litigation in court against it.

The commission approved annual plan of Rs 16,626 crore for financial year 2013-14 as compared to Rs 15,139 crore for the last financial year. Dikshit outlined the proposals for the crucial election year for Delhi assembly and felt that the election code of conduct may slow down implementation of many of the plan. Delhi elections are scheduled for November-December this year.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chetan Chauhan
Chetan Chauhan is the National Affairs Editor looking into all aspects of news and features from across India. A Chevening scholar with over three decades of experience in reporting and news management, Chetan has extensively covered all important aspects of the social sector, political economy, environment and climate change nationally and internationally. He did a journalism course at the Reuters Institute of Journalism in Oxford and Digital Media training at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. He started as a reporter with The Statesman in 1996 and joined the Hindustan Times in 2000 in the metro bureau covering environment, crime and Delhi politics. He covered hot local news, from the Jessica Lal murder case to the rebellion of Delhi Congress MLAs against then Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, to the replacement of toxic vehicle fuel with cleaner compressed natural gas (CNG) in the national capital. Some of his stories on air pollution became part of the Supreme Court’s landmark MC Mehta versus Government of India case in the National Capital Region (NCR), forcing the government to take corrective measures. As part of the national political bureau since 2004, he covered important central sectors such as environment, education, social justice, labour, rural development, water resources, renewable energy, agriculture, broadcasting and the Planning Commission for more than a decade producing several exclusive and investigative breaking stories. His specialisation is the environment, having covered at least a dozen United Nations global conferences on climate change, biodiversity and wildlife including climate summits in Paris, Copenhagen and Bali. He also covered India’s two five-year plans ---11th and 12th and reported on drafting and execution of right based laws such as Right to Education, Right to Information and rural job guarantee law, MG-NREGA, now being introduced in new format as VG-RAM-G Act. He has in-depth knowledge of social sector issues. He was one of the first to report on tigers vanishing from Sariska and Panna wildlife reserves in 2004 and 2008, respectively, leading to the setting up of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the introduction of stringent penal provisions for poaching. He has written extensively on the rising human-animal conflict in India and the degradation of India’s biodiversity hotspots because of mining and other activities. Since 2004, Chetan has covered Parliament comprehensively and participated in training on the nuanced coverage of Parliament proceedings. He has travelled extensively across India to cover national and provincial elections since 1998, especially in the Hindi heartland states, considered India’s road to power. He writes a regular column for Hindustan Times, Ecostani, on important national politics, economy, Himalayan ecology and environmental issues. His other responsibilities include providing inputs for edits and edit page articles for the publication, apart from managing news flow from across India.Read More

Catch every big hit, every wicket with Crickit, a one stop destination for Live Scores, Match Stats, Infographics & much more. Explore now!

Stay updated with all top Cities including, Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai and more across India. Stay informed on the latest happenings in World News along with Delhi Election 2025 and Delhi Election Result 2025 Live, New Delhi Election Result Live, Kalkaji Election Result Live at Hindustan Times.