The June 14 decision of the government to impose additional excise duty in the range of Rs 15,000-20,000 on big cars failed to have the desired effect as sales of gas-guzzling cars continue to march upward.

Petroleum minister Murli Deora is likely to meet the CEO's of oil companies to discuss the Chaturvedi committee report on the state of oil firms. The Chaturvedi committee report has called for a marginal increase in the price of petrol and diesel, but is unlikely to be implemented, especially with the elections being just round the corner.

Besides big cars, imported cars are also likely to run into rough weather, with a section of officials favouring a higher import tax on them. It must be mentioned that there has been a considerable jump in sales of imported cars like the BMW X3 and X5 which has seen 88 being units sold in April-July 2008, as against 20 units sold in April-July 2007. In contrast, sales of the ever dependable and economical Maruti 800 has gone southwards by a good 10% in April-July 2008, as compared to the same period last year. This shows a trend of growing affinity towards gas-guzzling cars in the country, a trend that can well prove to be very costly for the country on the long run.

Diesel run SUVs are likely to be the target in the advent of the government imposing higher taxes on big cars. While the sales of SUVs which are highly uneconomical have gone down by 31% in the US, they are growing in popularity in India, a fact that can be proved by the 24% growth in sales.