State government urges phase-out of obsolete, polluting vehicles

28 Nov 2022 CW Team

All vehicles held by the federal and state governments, including buses operated by transportation companies, must be decommissioned starting in April 2023. The voluntary scrapping strategy has received only lukewarm support from owners of private vehicles, prompting the road transport ministry to announce a draft notification suggesting a new schedule.

While scrapping policies for cars and trucks are optional, they will be required for government organisations, including PSUs and autonomous entities. The suggested timetable for retiring the outdated government vehicles has been accepted, according to Nitin Gadkari, the union's minister of road transport. Additionally, he has been pushing for the modernization of the bus fleets operated by state government organisations.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi suggested in January 2021 that the road transport ministry implement the policy for government vehicles beginning in April 2022 because it is a low hanging fruit that can be done quickly. However, given that state transportation corporations operate buses, many states were opposed to expanding this program to include them.

The centre recently held discussions with states to expedite policy implementation and has asked all states to provide details on vehicles that have completed 15 years since registration. They added that, while the number of such vehicles may be small, government agencies can make a start. The state government has also been advised by the road transport ministry to phase out old and polluting vehicles.

“If you look at introduction of electric cars, the government took the lead to go for them and to create a demand for the industry. Similarly, in the case of scrapping of old and polluting vehicles, we have to take the load,” said a senior government functionary.

According to officials, several high-level meetings have taken place in recent weeks involving the PMO, Niti Aayog, and the finance ministry to push the implementation of the Vehicle Scrapping Policy. They also stated that options for incentivizing states to modernise their bus fleets and retire old ones are being considered.