EXCLUSIVE: Mahindra, MSTC JV leads race to set up vehicle scrapping facilities

Cero, a joint venture between Mahindra Accelo and MSTC Ltd, is leading the race to set up vehicle scrapping centres across India. Mahindra Accelo is Mahindra Group’s steel subsidiary, while MSTC is a central government enterprise.   Cero has expressed interest in setting up registered vehicle scrapping facilities in Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Gujarat and West Bengal, according to sources. Cero already has scrapping centres at Greater Noida and Pune.   Last December, Cero had inked an agreement with the Maharashtra government to set up four more vehicle scrapping centres in the cities of Mumbai, Nagpur, Aurangabad and Nashik.   Gujarat seems to be a favourite state for establishing vehicle scrapping centres, said an official. Four companies – CMR-Kataria Recycling, Modest Infrastructure, Cero and Modest Engitech – have expressed interest in setting up vehicle recycling units in the state.   CMR-Kataria is a joint venture between century metal recycling and the Kataria group. Modest Infrastructure Private Ltd, is a subsidiary of Dempo Group of Companies and is engaged in ship building and ship repair.   Last August, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched the National Automobile Scrappage Policy to phase out unfit and polluting vehicles. Under the policy, consumers who scrap old vehicles will not be charged any registration fee for the purchase of a new vehicle.   Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari had recently spoken about how he intends to seek more tax-related concessions from the Finance Ministry to incentivise vehicle scrapping.