The Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday launched the Vehicle Scrappage Policy in India at the Gujarat Investor Summit. The Scrappage Policy was first announced by Nirmala Sitharaman at the Union Budget 2021 and later Union Minister of Road, Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari had revealed the details of the policy at a Lok Sabha session. According to PM, the Vehicle Scrappage Policy will bring in investments of around Rs 10,000 crore and the current way of scrapping vehicles is not fruitful. Vehicle Scrappage Policy Announced: All You Need To Know.

Every passenger vehicle has a lifespan of 15 years whereas a commercial vehicle has 10 years, after which they start polluting the environment aggressively. With the new policy, vehicles will be scrapped when their lifespan ends, reducing air pollution and will also make space for new vehicles.

According to Nitin Gadkari, once the lifespan of a vehicle ends, it will have to undergo a mandatory fitness test. If the vehicle fails a fitness test, the owner will not receive a renewal certificate and won't be able to run the vehicle on the road. In case the vehicle passes the fitness test, it will again have to undergo another fitness test every five years.

Giridhar Aramane, secretary in the road transport and highways ministry said, “From 2023 onwards, heavy commercial vehicles need to be scrapped if they do not conform to the fitness level prescribed under the rules. For personal vehicles, we plan to implement this from June 2024 onwards.”

As per Gadkari, one can also get financial benefits from the Scrappage Policy, which are as follows-

1. Vehicle manufacturers will be suggested to give a 5 percent discount on new vehicles against a scrapping certificate.

2. Owner of the vehicle will get a scrap value of the ex-showroom price of the vehicle ranging from 4 to 6 percent, if they choose to scrap the vehicle.

3. A discount of up to 25 percent will be provided on road tax and no registration fees for vehicles.

Though the Scrappage Policy has been launched, it will take time to implement the same on the ground level as scrapping centres are not ready yet.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 13, 2021 12:38 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).