In Bihar, 95.49% people don't own any vehicle, reveals caste survey report

The penetration of vehicles of any kind among people in the state of Bihar is abysmally low. How low? According to the caste survey report released recently, a massive 95.49 per cent of people here do not own any kind of vehicle, depending mostly on self or public and mass-transit options for their mobility requirements.

The caste survey report for Bihar was tabled both Houses of the Legislature on Tuesday and as per news agency PTI, it highlighted that 12.48 crore of the 13.07 crore people don't own any vehicle.

The breakup of figures is even more stark. Just a microscopic 0.11 per cent of people in the state own a car. This translates to just 5.72 lakh people in the state. Another 49.68 lakh people own at least one two-wheeler, or just 3.8 per cent of the total population of the state - 13.07 crore. Around 1.67 lakh, or 0.13 per cent of the population, owns at least one tractor.

A total of 11.99 lakh of the 2.01 crore people belonging to general category own two-wheelers, the report further highlighted.

The penetration of passenger vehicles among the general population of the country is quite low compared to many other countries in the world. Data from a survey conducted late last year by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare revealed that only 1 in 12 households in the entire country owns at least one car. The state with the highest car ownership per household is Goa.

The penetration of two-wheelers in among the Indian population, however, is significantly better with over 50 per cent families in the country having bikes, scooters or at least a cycle, according to National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-5 covering over 6.64 lakh families.

India is now the third largest vehicle market, overtaking Japan earlier this year. But this is largely due to the sheer size of the population here and the consensus is that while the low penetration of cars is a challenge, it also is an opportunity for vehicle manufacturers.