1 / 12To give a boost to green mobility plans, India may cut the goods and services tax (GST) on lithium-ion batteries and bring them on par with taxes on electric vehicles (EVs), a media report said on Thursday.2 / 12According to a Livemint report, discussions have already begun on how to proceed with the plan, which is a crucial step in making India a global manufacturing hub for EVs. 3 / 12 The government is expected to develop the final policy in around three months, the report added.4 / 12At present, e-vehicles are taxed at 5 per cent, while lithium-ion batteries are taxed at 18 per cent.5 / 12Battery price makes up as much as 50 per cent of an electric vehicle’s cost.6 / 12An emerging trend to tackle the problem of prohibitive cost of EV adoption is battery swapping technology.7 / 12The first meeting deliberating on the battery-swapping policy was held on June 7.8 / 12NITI Aayog, the ministries of new and renewable energy, heavy industries, and other government departments talked about tax rationalisation.9 / 12As GST comes under the ministry of finance, NITI Aayog, would not delve much into taxation. Any decision on changing GST would have to be taken by the GST Council.10 / 12In 2018, the GST rate on lithium-ion batteries was slashed from 28 per cent to 18 per cent.11 / 12\In December, NITI Aayog chief executive Amitabh Kant said the government is working on reducing GST on EV batteries.12 / 12An electric vehicle is a vehicle that uses one or more electric motors for propulsion. It can be powered by a collector system, with electricity from extravehicular sources, or it can be powered autonomously by a battery (sometimes charged by solar panels, or by converting fuel to electricity using fuel cells or a generator).