Government vehicles to have life of maximum 15 years

The Centre is set to go for mandatory scrapping of government vehicles which are more than 15 years old even as it moves to introduce a stringent fitness and emission-related regime for phasing out of old personal vehicles.

Though the share of government vehicles is negligible, sources said at least a beginning can be made with this to roll out the formal mechanisms to scrap old polluting vehicles. However, state governments will have the final say in disposing their vehicles as transport is a state subject.

Sources said while chairing a meeting on the proposed Vehicle Scrapping Policy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked the ministries concerned to finalise the policy before the budget and step up the setting up of automated fitness testing centres and vehicle scrapping centres to accelerate the implementation of the policy. There are indications that the policy is likely to be part of the budget announcements for 2021-22.

The PM has also asked the officials to go through the scrapping norms of defence and railway ministries and put together the final proposal quickly, including the proposed incentives for people to junk their old vehicles. Sources said Modi has asked the transport ministry to compress the timeline for full implementation of the scheme instead of stretching it up to 2025.

“There is a perception that people would go for scrapping their vehicles provided there is a proper mechanism and there are enough scrappage centres across the country. So, there is a need to increase the number of scrappage centres and automated fitness testing centres for the smooth rollout of the proposed policy,” said an official.