Vehicle scrappage policy is a win-win situation for all: Nitin Gadkari

The Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari has urged all stakeholders to come forward and support the vehicle scrappage policy. Addressing a stakeholder consultation in New Delhi yesterday, he said it is a win-win situation for all.

The stakeholder consultation meeting was held to seek support from India Auto Inc to expedite the implementation of the vehicle scrappage policy through more investment in vehicle scrapping infrastructure of Registered Vehicle Scrapping Facilities (RVSFs) and Automated Testing Stations (ATSs), generation of awareness among citizens and extension of discounts to vehicle owners for scrapping vehicles at RVSFs.

The Union Minister said the Ministry has undertaken multiple initiatives to build resilient demand for vehicles such as building a world-class network of highways, electrification of buses, and mandatory automated fitness testing of vehicles. He said the automobile OEMs should work towards increasing their production capacity and support the nation to become the largest auto industry in the world.

Tata Motors opened its first vehicle scrappage facility in Jaipur in February 2023, its second in Bhubaneswar, and inaugurated its third in Surat on September 24. All the facilities use globally benchmarked and optimised recycling processes and have a capacity of scrapping 15,000 passenger and commercial vehicles per annum.

Gadkari emphasised that since the auto industry is the biggest beneficiary of this policy, it must come forward and extend support through more investment in setting up Automated Testing Stations (ATSs) and Registered Vehicle Scrapping Facilities (RVSFs), more awareness amongst citizens about the policy benefits through their dealer network, and a finalised discount against certificate of deposit obtained by citizens on scrapping their vehicles.

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) had launched the Voluntary Vehicle-Fleet Modernization Program (Vehicle Scrapping Policy) on March 18, 2021. This policy aims to create an ecosystem for phasing out old, unsafe, polluting vehicles and replacing them with newer, safer, and fuel-efficient vehicles.

Anurag Jain, secretary, MoRTH, encouraged India Auto Inc to set up scrappage centres and automated testing stations across the country. Considering that the vehicle scrappage policy is expected to increase auto sales by about 8% and contribute about 0.5% to the country’s GDP, it is imperative auto OEMs extend their wholehearted support to the policy.

The stakeholder consultation was aimed to seek support from the automobile industry to expedite the implementation of vehicle scrapping policy in the form of investment in vehicle scrapping infrastructure of Registered Vehicle Scrapping Facilities (RVSFs) and Automated Testing Stations (ATSs), generation of awareness among citizens and extension of discounts to vehicle owners for scrapping vehicles at RVSFs. Representatives from all major automotive OEMs (including Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki India, Kia India and Hyundai Motor India), auto dealers and used car aggregators attended the event and shared their perspectives on the challenges and actions required to expedite implementation of the vehicle scrapping policy.

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