'MakeInIndia' Twitter goof-up creates flutter on auto duty cut

NEW DELHI: Government's 'MakeInIndia' Twitter handle today created a flutter on the micro-blogging site by erroneously stating that excise duty on cars and two-wheelers has been cut, but corrected the mistake later.

The @makeinindia, a Twitter handle managed by Ministry of Commerce and Industry, this afternoon posted that duties on small, large and mid-segment cars, as well as two-wheelers has been slashed in the range of 3-4 per cent.

The tweet generated much interest as it came within days of over ten-month-long duty concessions ending on December 31, a move that has resulted in automobile companies raising their car prices as much as Rs 1.27 lakh a unit.

"Excise duty has been reduced for small cars & two-wheelers (12% > 8%), large cars (27% > 24%) & mid-segment cars (24% > 20%) #MakeInIndia," said the tweet.

As the news spread, the Twitter handle posted a "correction" nearly five hours later, saying, "These excise duty reductions were valid till 31 December, 2014 #MakeInIndia".

When contacted, Revenue Secretary Shaktikanta Das also told PTI that the news flash on Twitter was "false".

In the morning, the twitter handle had said that it was listing "a few incentives that will catalyse India's #automobiles manufacturing process #MakeInIndia".

This was followed by the tweet on excise duty cut. In order to boost the auto sector, the previous UPA government had cut excise duty on cars, SUVs and two-wheelers in the interim Budget in February.

In June, the new government led by Narendra Modi extended the excise duty concession by six months to December 31. The Finance Ministry last week decided not extend it.