Auto dealers should also open vehicle scrapping facilities: Nitin Gadkari

Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday said that automobile dealers across India should also open vehicle scrapping facilities, reported PTI. While speaking at the fifth Auto Retail Conclave, Gadkari reportedly said that the Indian government is encouraging a circular economy, and following that strategy, the government will give permission to dealers to start vehicle scrapping facilities.

Some auto manufacturers including Maruti Suzuki and Tata Motors have already launched their vehicle scrapping centres across the country. However, the number of vehicle scrapping centres across India is much lower compared to the number of older vehicles that require to be scrapped. The launch of more vehicle scrapping centres would expedite the process. Hence, Gadkari has stated that automobile dealers should come forward to set up such facilities.

The minister further stated that the vehicle scrapping policy will increase automobile sales by 18 per cent. He believes that using the raw materials sourced from scrapped vehicles will save 33 per cent cost on raw material procurement and increase new vehicle sales by 18-20 per cent. Also, he believes that this policy will play a key role in making India a global automobile manufacturing hub.

The Vehicle Scrappage Policy introduced for the first time in August 2021, focuses on phasing out old and unfit vehicles across India in order to reduce the vehicular pollution level as the older vehicles are known for polluting the environment more than the newer models. This policy aims to de-register private cars that are aged more than 20 years and commercial vehicles aged more than 15 years.

Under this government-funded programme to scrap old and unfit vehicles and replace them with modern and new vehicles on Indian roads, the primary goal is to create an ecosystem for phasing out unfit and polluting vehicles to achieve a lower carbon footprint across the country. Implemented in April this year, the Vehicle Scrappage Policy mandates the fitness testing of heavy commercial vehicles (HCVs) through Automated Testing Stations (ATSs). For other types of commercial vehicles (CVs) and private vehicles (PVs), fitness testing will be conducted through the ATS only, starting from June 2024. If a vehicle fails the fitness test, it will be defined as an ELV (End-of-Life Vehicle), resulting in scrapping of the vehicle.