SRK pays around 100% tax for ₹5 crore Cadillac Escalade:Which celebrity owns costliest car in India?

Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, often hailed as the ‘Badshah’ of Indian cinema, has once again made headlines across the country. This time, it is not for a record-breaking box office collection, but for a massive new addition to his luxury garage. The actor was recently spotted navigating the streets of Mumbai in a brand-new, jet-black Cadillac Escalade V-Series. Because the US-based automobile company, Cadillac does not officially sell its vehicles in the Indian market, this multi-crore American SUV is an incredibly rare sight on Indian roads. The grand entry of this vehicle has sparked heavy curiosity about how ultra-luxury cars are brought into the country, the steep taxes one has to pay, and how much India’s richest celebrities spend on their high-end wheels. Imported or bought in India? According to reports by major automotive and entertainment portals, including CarToq, Times of India, and carandbike, Shah Rukh Khan privately imported the Cadillac Escalade V-Series directly from the United States. SRK modified the high-end wheel from LHD to RHD: Because General Motors (the parent company of Cadillac) does not have retail operations or dealerships in India, the vehicle had to be shipped from abroad. Furthermore, since cars in the US are manufactured as left-hand drive (LHD) vehicles, the SUV had to undergo a specialized conversion process to right-hand drive (RHD) to legally comply with Indian road regulations before it could be registered and driven in Mumbai. Reportedly, he paid around ₹30 lakh for the conversion. How much tax King Khan paid on his new car? Importing a heavy, foreign-made petrol SUV into India is an incredibly expensive affair that often triples the vehicle’s original retail price. According to CarToq, internationally, the price of the top-of-the-line Cadillac Escalade V-Series starts at a retail price of around $120,000, which converts to roughly ₹1.15 crore. But King Khan paid more than four times the original price due to taxes, freight charges, marine insurance and other types of charges. Summing all this up, the total cost of the luxurious vehicle skyrockets to over ₹5 crore. How much tax celebrities pay on buying luxurious cars As detailed by legal and tax advisory portal LegalDev, India levies some of the highest import tariffs in the world on luxury foreign vehicles. The buyer has to pay all the tariffs. While recent trade deals like the India-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) aim to gradually lower these tariff boundaries for certain regions, private imports from the United States remain heavily taxed as the India-US trade deal has not yet reached conclusion. Import Duty on Cars in India: Cars that cost more than $40,000 have a very high import duty, usually around 100%. Cars that cost less than $40,000 usually have around 70% import duty. Most expensive celebrity cars in India Shah Rukh Khan’s new Cadillac is spectacular, but it is far from the only high-end machine in his garage—or in the garages of India’s elite. Indian celebrities routinely spend staggering sums on exotic vehicles. According to the data from cartorq, here is the list of expensive moving machines parked in garages of the country’s high-end celebrities. India’s premier luxury car segment Despite the heavy tax structures, India’s premier and luxury car segment has experienced an unprecedented boom since the global pandemic. Historically, India’s luxury car segment was small, but it crossed a historic milestone recently. Here’s a look at the total annual retail sales numbers for the luxury car segment since the pandemic: 2022: Approximately 38,000 units sold. 2023: Rose sharply to around 47,000 units. 2024: Crossed the monumental 50,000 milestone for the first time in Indian history, closing at 51,200 units. 2025: Figure clocked at around 52,000 units due to currency fluctuations and high interest rates. How big is India’s luxury car segment? By value, the Indian luxury car market is currently estimated to be worth $1.44 billion to $1.52 billion (over ₹12,000 crore), according to Mordor Intelligence. German giants Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi dominate the market, commanding roughly 85% of these total volumes.