9 lakhs govt vehicles, buses older than 15 years to be scrapped from April 1

From April 1, all government-owned vehicles that are older than 15 years will go off the road.

As part of this, more than nine lakh vehicles, owned by central and state governments, transport corporations and public sector undertakings, will go off the road from April 1 and new vehicles will replace them, Road Transport and Highway Minister Nitin Gadkari said on Monday.

Gadkari, while addressing an event organised by industry body FICCI, said the government is taking many steps to facilitate the use of ethanol, methanol, bio-CNG, bio-LNG and electric vehicles, according to a PTI report.

"We have now approved the scrapping of more than nine lakh government vehicles, which are more than 15 years old, and polluting buses and cars will go off the road and new vehicles with alternative fuels will replace them," he said.

The Union Minister added that the move will further help reduce air pollution to a great extent.

As per a recent notification by the Road Transport and Highways Ministry, beginning April 1, all vehicles owned by central and state governments, including buses owned by transport corporations and public sector undertakings, that are older than 15 years will be de-registered and scrapped.

The rule shall not apply to the special purpose vehicles (armoured and other specialised vehicles) used for operational purposes for the defence of the country and for the maintenance of law and order and internal security, the notification had said.

"Disposal of such vehicles shall, after the expiry of the fifteen years from the date of initial registration of the vehicle, (should) be ensured through the Registered Vehicle Scrapping Facility set up in accordance with the Motor Vehicles (Registration and Functions of Vehicle Scrapping Facility) Rules, 2021, as amended from time to time," it said.

Meanwhile, Union Minister Gadkari had also said earlier that the Ministry is working to halve road accidents in India by 2024.

"The highways that are being constructed now are being done after taking several considerations into account. I humbly accept that I have not had much success in terms of curbing road accidents," the Minister said at the India Today Conclave Mumbai.

(With PTI inputs)

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