The GST council has proposed steep increases in consumer levies on luxury electric cars priced above $46,000, a government document showed, a move that could impact sales of carmakers such as Tesla, Mercedes-Benz, BMW and BYD.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is aiming to reform India’s tax system and is pushing Indian customers to buy more domestic goods, just when relations with the United States have soured due to high tariffs. His government has recommended hefty cuts in the goods and services tax (GST) that could make everything from shampoos to electronics cheaper.

The key panel tasked with making rate suggestions to India’s powerful GST Council has backed sweeping cuts to many items in line with PM Modi’s overhaul, but it has called for raising taxes on electric cars, the document detailing its recommendations showed.

The panel recommended raising the GST rate to 18% from 5% currently for EVs priced between ₹2 million and ₹4 million ($23,000-$46,000). It also proposed hiking the tax to 28% for cars priced above $46,000, saying that such vehicles cater to the “upper segment” of society and are largely imported rather than manufactured domestically.

But the government has simultaneously decided to do away with the 28% tax rate altogether, leaving the GST Council with the option to increase the tax on EVs to 18%, or put them in the newly planned 40% category carved out for certain luxury goods, said an Indian government source familiar with the discussions.

The GST Council, led by the Union Finance Minister, and which has members from all States, is meeting on September 3-4 to review the proposals, and has the ultimate authority on decision-making.

The secretariat of the GST Council did not respond to Reuters queries.

After the Reuters story, the Nifty Auto index turned negative and fell as much as 0.5%, with local automakers Mahindra and Mahindra falling almost 3% and Tata Motors dropping 1.2%.

India’s EV market is small, making up about 5% of total cars sold in April to July this year, but growth in the segment has been rapid — EV car sales in India rose 93% to 15,500 units during that period.

“The uptake of electric vehicles is increasing and while, the low rate of 5% is to incentivise faster adoption of electric vehicles, it is also important to signal that higher-priced EVs can be taxed at higher rates,” said the document, detailing the tax panel’s recommendations.

The proposal could affect domestic EV makers such as Mahindra and Tata Motors, though their offerings above the ₹2 million price range are limited.

Foreign automakers offering high-end EVs stand to be hit harder. Tesla just launched its Model Y in India with a base price of $65,000, while Mercedes-Benz, BMW and BYD also offer top-end luxury electric cars.

Carmakers have unanimously called for maintaining the 5% GST rate to avoid disrupting India’s EV aspirations and targets.

In a statement, Tata told Reuters it is “imperative” the tax rate is retained as any hikes will slow “the transition to clean mobility.” BMW India, which is investing in expanding its EV portfolio in the country, said an increase “can derail the vision of high electric adoption and local production.”

Mercedes-Benz said that an upward revision would “mostly impact the entry-level” luxury cars. “Our top-end luxury battery EVs will not be impacted much,” said Santosh Iyer, CEO, Mercedes-Benz India.

In July, Tata Motors led the Indian electric car market with a near 40% market share, while Mahindra has 18%. BYD holds a 3% market share, while Mercedes and BMW together account for 2%. Tesla is taking bookings but has yet to start deliveries.

Tesla has opened two showrooms in India in recent months, years after Elon Musk repeatedly criticised high tariffs of roughly 100% on imported cars. The GST tax is applied on top of these tariffs, further increasing the costs of Tesla cars.

Published – September 02, 2025 11:03 pm IST

File photo of Lewis Hamilton© AFP

Max Verstappen made clear his feelings about George Russell’s actions leading to him being stripped of pole position when he spoke out after winning Sunday’s chaotic Qatar Grand Prix. The newly-crowned four-time world champion said he felt “surprised and disappointed” by the Mercedes driver’s attempt to see him penalised after an incident during qualifying at the Losail International Circuit on Saturday. “I was surprised and disappointed in the stewards’ room,” said Verstappen. “I have been in there many times, of course, but I have never before seen someone trying to screw someone else over that hard.”

Speaking to reporters after winning Sunday’s race, Verstappen had explained that he had been trying “to be nice” in slowing down on his lap in qualifying and did nothing deliberate to upset Russell. 

The pair had enjoyed a good relationship until this incident which Verstappen made clear had changed his view. 

“I was just trying to be nice and maybe that is not the way to be,” he said. “But I am not surprised by anything anymore in this business.”

Russell had complained that Verstappen’s driving was dangerous on Saturday when he slowed on track ahead of him, causing him to take evasive action. 

The outcome of his complaint was a stewards’ investigation and Verstappen being stripped of his pole position — his one place demotion gifting his rival his career fifth pole. 

But the Mercedes driver was unable to take advantage of his position at the start of the race when a determined Verstappen made a blistering start and then stormed to a classic flawless win. 

His race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase referred to the stewards’ decision and penalty during Verstappen’s slow down lap after winning. 

“Karma is a wonderful thing,” he said. “You definitely did not drive unnecessarily slowly today. Great job.”

The Dutch driver responded by praising the Red Bull team. 

“Simply lovely, guys. Yes, yes, yes. What an unbelievable race again. That was really fun!”

After finishing eighth in Saturday’s sprint race, he and Red Bull performed a spectacular turnaround to win on Sunday, claiming his ninth victory of the season. 

“It was a very good race,” he said. “Of course, yesterday in qualifying the car was a lot better and today that first stint was very, very fast. Lando and I were within 1.8 seconds of each other the whole time, pushing each other and honestly, it was a lot of fun out there.

“This track has a lot of grip and this year the tyres were really holding on, so that was a lot of fun to be really pushing the tyre. We went really long on that first stint. After that there were a few Safety Car moments that you had to take care of, but I’m very happy.

“It’s been a while in the dry to be this competitive, and very proud of everyone in the team to turn it around within a day. So they definitely also deserve this victory.”

Newly-crowned four-time world champion Max Verstappen has been stripped of pole position at the Qatar Grand Prix for impeding Mercedes driver George Russell in qualifying on Saturday. Red Bull’s Verstappen was given a one-place grid penalty for blocking Russell with the British driver starting on pole instead of the Dutchman. Hours after Verstappen claimed his first pole position for five months a one-place penalty was imposed for driving unnecessarily slowly, a manouevre that pushed Russell into the gravel. The Red Bull driver clocked the fastest lap in one minute and 20.520 seconds and Russell was originally second for Mercedes just 0.055 seconds adrift.

But the British driver cried foul immediately.

“Super-dangerous by Verstappen,” said the Mercedes driver, whose thoughts prompted the stewards to investigate. 

“I ended up going through the gravel and all over the floor it felt like it was scraping,” said Russell. 

McLaren’s Lando Norris remains third while sprint-race winner Oscar Piastri of McLaren was fourth with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc on the third row along with Lewis Hamilton in sixth for Sunday’s Grand Prix.

Norris admitted his disappointment at missing out on a front row start. 

“It’s not what we hoped for, but it was the maximum we could do. My lap was pretty good, but not quick enough.”

Hamilton, set for Ferrari next year, finished sixth, admitting: “I don’t really care. I just want to get through these races, do my job, turn up and look forward to the winter break.” 

After the early laps, Verstappen led before Russell went top in 1:21.519, a time that was seven-tenths quicker than Hamilton’s best as he struggled to extract matching pace on his way to ninth. 

With four minutes to go, Russell offered Hamilton a tow which lifted him to sixth, 0.118 off the pace in a tight field before Russell trimmed two-tenths off his best lap in 1:21.241, beating Leclerc by 0.037 with Sainz third ahead of Norris.  

Out went Alex Albon and his Williams team-mate Franco Colapinto along with Liam Lawson of RB, Haas’s Nico Hulkenberg and Alpine’s Esteban Ocon. 

Russell began Q3 in the same style, clocking 1:21.161, but his top spot was quickly taken by Verstappen in 1:21.085, Red Bull’s set-up changes, following the sprint, paying dividends.

On his second run, Russell improved to go top again by 0.001 seconds, but it was not enough in improving conditions to resist a revitalised Verstappen, or Norris, who clocked 1:20.983. 

It looked solid for McLaren, but in a final flurry of laps Verstappen went top in 1:20.687 with Hamilton rising to fifth, within 0.026 of Russell in fourth, and Alonso and Magnussen claiming top ten spots. 

The ‘top 10 shootout’ began with Russell topping the pile in 1:20.575 ahead of Leclerc on their opening runs when Norris ran off at Turn Five and failed to clock a time before Verstappen slotted into second. 

This left McLaren in need of a strong late lap in the final seconds as they all ran again and Verstappen, against his own forecasts, finished ahead of Russell and Norris for what looked like his first pole since the Austrian Grand Prix in June.

George Russell of Mercedes took pole position for the Las Vegas Grand Prix on Friday while title-chasing Max Verstappen was fifth as the Dutchman closes in on a fourth successive world championship. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was second ahead of Pierre Gasly of Alpine with Red Bull’s Verstappen finishing one spot ahead of title rival Lando Norris of McLaren who was sixth. Verstappen, who won the Las Vegas race in 2023, leads Norris by 62 points with three races remaining and needs simply to finish ahead of him on Saturday night to become only the sixth man to win four world titles.

Norris has to beat Verstappen by three points to keep his slim championship hopes alive.

“At least we are ahead of the McLarens. I didn’t expect that so it’s good,” said Verstappen, hampered by Red Bull’s error in bring the wrong rear wing to Las Vegas.

“We’re just a bit too slow. We have been struggling to get the tyres to work over a lap and we’re too slow on the straights.”

Charles Leclerc, in the second Ferrari, was fourth fastest in qualifying and will share the second row with Gasly whose impressive performance on the Las Vegas street circuit followed a shock third-place finish in Brazil last time out.

Yuki Tsunoda of RB was seventh with Oscar Piastri in the second McLaren, Nico Hulkenberg in a Haas and seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes completing the top 10.

Russell clocked a best lap in one minute and 32.312 seconds to outpace Sainz by 0.098 seconds for his third pole this year the fourth of his career.

“It feels incredible to be back on pole,” said Russell, who clipped a wall in the third and final qualifying run.

“I had a bit of a moment on my first run and we had to change the front wing so for a while I didn’t think we were going to make the flag, but I am just so happy.”

Norris felt the “top four was out of reach” for him.

“But I will keep going to the end and will do my best in every race whether I am fighting for the championship or not.”

Colapinto crash

On a cool night in America’s gambling capital, with a track temperature of 13 degrees Celsius, it was Gasly who set the pace as the rest slithered in early pursuit.

Having been quickest in the earlier final free practice, Russell topped Q1 ahead of Hamilton.

Unfortunately for Red Bull, Verstappen’s team-mate Sergio Perez’s miserable season continued as he was eliminated along with Aston Martin’s two-time world champion Fernando Alonso, Williams’ Alex Albon, Valtteri Bottas of Sauber and Lance Stroll in the second Aston Martin.

Hamilton set the Q2 pace in 1:33.136. After his dismal outing in Brazil where he finished 10th in the rain, this was evidence of a revitalised Hamilton ahead of a move to Ferrari next year.

Verstappen briefly went top with an edgy lap before Mercedes responded with Russell taking control as both he and Hamilton delivered improved laps, Russell clocking 1:32.881.

At this stage, Verstappen was showing enough pace to stay ahead of Norris before the Q2 segment ended with a yellow flag as Franco Colapinto hit the wall at the penultimate corner in his Williams, climbing out of the wreckage unhurt.

It was his second consecutive crash in qualifying and left the team with a big repair and rebuild job – the British team’s sixth in three Grands Prix.

The Argentine driver was already heading for a Q2 exit in 14th place along with RB’s Liam Lawson, Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu, Kevin Magnussen of Haas and Alpine’s Esteban Ocon.

Hamilton topped Q2 to lead the way into the top ten shootout with a best lap in 1:32.567 ahead of Sainz and Russell.

The Q3 action resumed after a 25-minute delay for repairs, Verstappen leading the way followed by both McLarens before Russell clocked an early marker in 1:32.811 ahead of Sainz while Hamilton locked up and aborted his first lap.

After his life-threatening skiing accident in 2013, Formula One legend Michael Schumacher’s life has changed immeasurably over the years. Since then, details about his health condition have been kept confidential. It has been reported in the past that Schumacher has been residing in Switzerland. However, European media recently reported that Schumacher made his first public appearance in over a decade, having attended the wedding of his daughter Gina this week. 

The ceremony took place at a villa in Mallorca, Spain. The report also added that the guests were not allowed to take pictures of the venue.

Elisabetta Gregoraci, wife of current Alpine F1 team supervisor Flavio Briatore, has made a heartbreaking revelation about how Schumacher communicates.

“Michael doesn’t speak, he communicates with his eyes. Only three people can visit him and I know who they are. They moved to Spain and his wife has set up a hospital in that house,” Gregoraci said on Italian reality TV show ‘Grande Fratello’, as quoted by Express.co.uk.

According to reports in local media, Schumacher’s wife Corinna bought the luxury villa from Real Madrid president Florentino Perez.

A few months ago, former world champion Sebastian Vettel, who is close to Schumacher and his family, recently revealed that the F1 legend “is not doing well”.

Schumacher’s lawyer, Felix Damm, however, has revealed that the former F1 driver’s family has decided not to make his final health report public due to privacy concerns.

“It was always about protecting private things. We considered whether a final report about Michael’s health could be the right way to do this,” Damm told German media outlet LTO, as quoted by SI.com.

Damm also stated that Schumacher’s family would have come under pressure from the media to release timely health updates, had they released the final health report.

“But that wouldn’t have been the end of it and there would have had to be constantly updated ‘water level reports’ and it would not have been up to the family when the media interest in the story stopped.”

“They [the media] could pick up on such a report again and again and as ‘and what does it look like now?’ one, two, three months or years after the message,” he added. “If we then wanted to take action against this reporting, we would have to deal with the argument of voluntary self-disclosure,” he added.

Max Verstappen will look for an improved personal and team performance this weekend when Red Bull seek to stop the rot and stay on top in the Formula One title race at this weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix. After a run of six races without a win that has coincided with the revival of his rivals, the Dutchman arrives in Baku with a 62-point lead in the drivers’ championship ahead of Lando Norris. His team’s advantage ahead of McLaren has also been trimmed to only eight points.

Verstappen’s and Red Bull’s last victory, his 61st, came at the Spanish Grand Prix in June while team-mate Sergio Perez last won on the streets of Baku, claiming his sixth career triumph and second in Azerbaijan in last year’s race.

Red Bull’s supreme domination that has seen them leading the constructors’ championship for more than two years, since the 2022 Spanish Grand Prix, will end if McLaren outscore them by nine points on Sunday.

In the aftermath of Aston Martin’s glossy unveiling of Red Bull’s star designer Adrian Newey as future managing technical partner on Tuesday, another defeat to knock them off the top could be seen as significant.

Both Verstappen and Mexican Perez have been busy working on finding solutions to their slump in form since Charles Leclerc claimed victory for Ferrari at Monza on September 1.

“Monza was a tough race for us and it is our priority to get our form back to where it needs to be,” said Verstappen.

“We always want to be more competitive and the team has been working hard on the issues we’ve had.”

“We’ve had a good period of reflection and work since the last race,” said Perez. “Both Max and I have been in the factory working to ensure we are finding a fix for the problems.

“To get back to where we should be on the grid, it will take a team effort and you can see that every day in Milton Keynes. This has pulled us all together.”

Perez leaning on Baku memories

Perez finished eighth at Monza, two places behind three-time world champion Verstappen, while both Ferraris, both McLarens and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton filled the top five.

After a season of much speculation about his future at Red Bull following a string of poor results, he welcomes the return to a venue he likes.

He is the only two-time winner in Baku and has scored more points there than any other driver.

“Personally, I love to race there,” he said. “Street circuits suit my style and Baku is a fun track.”

Ferrari will also be filled with hope in Baku after their success with an upgraded car at Monza where revisions to the floor and other areas proved successful.

But team chief Fred Vasseur stressed that the team will be focused on consistency and not checking the championship standings this weekend as they chase down Red Bull and McLaren.

“We have to focus on doing a good job every weekend and if something has to come to us, it will come. It’s no good to focus on the championship and be conservative… everything can change so much from one week to the next.”

With McLaren and Mercedes both claiming wins in recent races, a close scrap on the fast and challenging street track is in prospect, with Ferrari’s reserve driver Oliver Bearman replacing Kevin Magnussen alongside Nico Hulkenberg at Haas.

Dane Magnussen has been banned after accumulating 12 penalty points.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli was a Mercedes junior driver.© X (Twitter)

George Russell claimed a memorable if unexpected victory ahead of his Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton in a thrilling finish to Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix, having started sixth on the grid. The 26-year-old Briton came home 0.526 seconds ahead of the seven-time world champion, who controlled most of the race before being called in for a second stop, with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri finishing third, just 1.173 seconds adrift of Russell.  Russell drove the 44-laps race with only one pit stop which led to him going 34 laps on his second set of tyres, a strategic decision taken during the contest enabling him to take the lead and an unexpected third career victory.  “Amazing, amazing result,” shrieked Russell. 

“We definitely didn’t predict this in our strategy meeting this morning but the car was awesome. We changed a lot on Friday night and the tyres felt great.

“I kept saying ‘I think we can do the one-stop, I think we can do the one-stop’ and the strategy was a really great job. 

“Well done to Lewis as he really controlled that race and if circumstances were slightly different, I’m sure he would have got the victory.

“One-two for the team was awesome and what a way to go to the break.”

Russell’s win also brought Mercedes a third win in four races following a poor run of results in the last two years.

“We had such a disaster on Friday when the car was nowhere,” said Hamilton, who led for most of the race until Russell’s strategy undercut the field. 

“We made some changes and it was difficult to know in the wet yesterday, but the car was fantastic. Congratulations to George and the team.”

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who started on pole position, came home fourth ahead of three-time world champion and series leader Max Verstappen of Red Bull, Lando Norris in the second McLaren and Carlos Sainz in the second Ferrari. 

Sergio Perez, who started second, finished eighth in the second Red Bull ahead of two-time champion Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin and Esteban Ocon of Alpine. 

– Pit stop strategy –

After Saturday’s deluge, the race began in bright, warm and dry conditions. 

Leclerc enjoyed a smooth start from pole as Hamilton beat Perez to take second into La Source, where they battled wheel to wheel. 

Norris had a poor start and ran through a gravel trap, falling to seventh behind Russell and Sainz as the early order settled while Verstappen gained two places to rise to ninth, having started 11th due to a 10-place penalty for taking an additional new engine. 

Hamilton’s pace took him within reach of Leclerc on lap three when, using Drag Reduction System (DRS), he swept into the lead on the Kemmel Straight. 

He stayed there and by lap five led Leclerc by a second ahead of Perez, Piastri and Russell with Sainz sixth, the only top 10 driver on hard tyres, ahead of Norris and Verstappen. 

Russell and Verstappen came in after 10 laps, both switching from mediums to hards and re-joining in 13th and 14th respectively before Hamilton, Perez and Piastri pitted one lap later. 

Norris finally pitted on lap 16, rejoining eighth behind Verstappen with whom he battled until the end of the race.

With all of the other contenders pitting a second time, Russell became the fifth race leader and opted to stay out on the one-stop strategy. 

Hamilton closed but instead of waving his teammate through Russell was give the all-clear to race him, a potentially dangerous strategy from Mercedes as a flying Piastri quickly closed on them. 

With five laps to go, Hamilton was two seconds behind Russell and Piastri 5.4 adrift, the top three setting up a grandstand finish that saw Piastri close up to within two seconds while the Mercedes men tussled to the flag.    

“I thought I could catch them but clean air made such a big difference today,” said Piastri. 

Verstappen still leads the championship race with 275 points, 78 clear of Norris. Red Bull top the constructors’ championship 42 points ahead of McLaren.

Formula One now heads into a summer break with the next race in Zandvoort for the Dutch Grand Prix on August 25.

Max Verstappen, facing a 10-place grid penalty for taking a new engine, topped the times for Red Bull ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in a qualifying session run in mixed wet-and-dry conditions at the Belgian Grand Prix on Saturday. Leclerc will start Sunday’s race from pole position as he did in 2023 with Sergio Perez alongside him in the second Red Bull, the Mexican having ended a nightmare run of qualifying failures amid reports that his future with the team is at risk.

Seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton qualified fourth for Mercedes and will share the second row of the grid with McLaren’s Lando Norris, who qualified fifth ahead of team-mate Oscar Piastri and George Russell in the second Mercedes.

Carlos Sainz was eighth in the second Ferrari in front of compatriot and two-time champion Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin, Esteban Ocon of Alpine and Alex Albon of Williams — who will be 10th on the grid ahead of Verstappen.

“It was a nice qualifying and luckily the weather was ok,” said Verstappen, referring to earlier heavy rain that turned final practice into a washout. “It was raining a little bit, but we could do a decent session.

“I know I have to start 10 places back so this was the best I could do today and we’ll go from there. I don’t know quick we are going to be, but I hope we can be in the mix.”

Verstappen will be bidding to win the Belgian race for the fourth consecutive year, having won previously after taking grid penalties, but his car this year lacks the same clear superiority. Last year, he won from sixth. This year he starts 11th.

“It’s exactly the same as last year and, for me, it’s good as I didn’t expect that. We had tricky conditions and the rain helped us a bit and it’s good to be back at the front of the grid,” said Leclerc.

In steady but light rain, Norris led a train of cars from the pitlane for Q1, followed by both Haas cars and his McLaren team-mate Piastri, who was forced to drop to fourth by an exit by Kevin Magnussen that he described as “dangerous”.

– Racing in the rain –

A heavy shower was forecast by McLaren and this accelerated all 20 drivers to join the fray in pursuit of an early banker lap before the conditions deteriorated. All were on intermediates as Norris clocked 1:58.894 before being beaten by Piastri, in 1:57.411.

Verstappen then took over on top in 1:56.003 with Piastri threatening and taking second before rising to take command with five minutes to go in 1:55.549, before the Dutchman regained the ascendancy.

He clocked 1:54.938 to go six-tenths clear of Piastri while Norris struggled to match him and Russell fought to survive, rising from 17th to third in the final seconds of Q1.

Taking advantage of a problem for Verstappen, who was involved in a blocking incident with Zhou Guanyu’s Sauber, Piastri took top spot again in 1:54.835 ahead of Pierre Gasly.

The early departures were taken by the two Haas men, Nico Hulkenberg and Magnussen, RB’s Yuki Tsunoda, who will start from the back of the grid after taking a penalty for new power unit parts, Logan Sargeant of Williams and Zhou.

Q2 began in similar fashion, with rain forecast and all 15 runners on track, Alex Albon setting the early pace for Williams before Norris took over in 1:54.459 and then Verstappen, in 1:53.857. All were on ‘inters’ again.

With five minutes to go, Russell and Leclerc, with fresh tyres, were both in the drop-zone as the rain intensified. Russell reacted by leaping to fourth followed by Leclerc, taking third, and Hamilton up fifth.

Late faster laps from Perez, Ocon and Gasly pushed the Mercedes pair to go second and third while the under-pressure Perez survived by 0.003 seconds. Albon, Pierre Gasly of Alpine, Daniel Ricciardo of RB, Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas and Lance Stroll, whose Aston Martin team had rebuilt his car after his crash in FP3, missed the cut.

Hamilton was first out for Q3 and posted a lap in 1:54.011 as a marker.

On their first runs, only the two Red Bulls beat him, Verstappen going top in 1:53.159, leaving it all down to the final laps to decide the final grid order.