The vehicle scrappage policy may be announced in the Union Budget 2021-22 and the final decision on the same would to be taken by the Finance Ministry and the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), CNBC-TV18 reported on January 11.
Under the new policy, commercial 15-year-old vehicles and 20-year-old private vehicles can be considered for scrapping. The Centre has prepared a Cabinet note on the policy, Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways VK Singh told Rajya Sabha on September 19.
Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari had earlier in September said the scrappage policy could be rolled out within a month.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had in August 2019 said a scrappage policy is in the works, when the slowdown began in the automobile industry.
On July 26, 2019, the government had proposed amendments to motor vehicle rules to allow the scrapping of vehicles older than 15 years in a bid to spur the adoption of electrical vehicles.
In a draft notification, the government proposed renewal of fitness certificates for vehicles older than 15 years every six months instead of the current time-frame of one year.
In July, the National Green Tribunal rapped the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) for the delay in issuing guidelines on the scrapping of vehicles.
A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel had said a proper mechanism to set up authorised recycling centres compliant with environmental norms was an urgent need in view of a large number of 'End of Life Vehicles' (ELV).
The tribunal had noted that draft guidelines for setting up, authorisation and operation of Vehicles Scrapping Centres had been uploaded on the MoRTH website for public comments and have been suitably modified in reference to inputs. However, a formal notification was still to be issued under the Motor Vehicle Act, 1988, after approval of the Cabinet.
The green panel had said the response of the MoRTH was very unsatisfactory and lacking in sensitivity.
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