A policy in the pipeline, if approved, might shine its wand on many. The government, which is looking to make India ‘swacch’ and ‘unnat’ is also looking forth to make it pollution free and also boost the automotive industry.
The Government of India will soon come out with a policy offering financial incentives of up to Rs 1.5 lakh on surrender of vehicles that are over 10 years old to check pollution and ease traffic, Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said. “The step would help in checking pollution and easing traffic. The policy is being formulated and the finance ministry’s nod would be sought,” he added. He also informed the media that a proposal in this regard is being formulated and the Finance Ministry’s nod will be sought on it.
Such a policy, which would offer financial incentives needed to be in place in a country like India who’s populous in leading cities is in space crunch. Also, some old vehicles, which lie around for years, not only eat up space, but also get degraded and pollute the atmosphere, in crucial times of global warming. In some cases, people are hesitant to sell them off considering the meager amount they would receive in return as most of the old parts would be scrapped off. Vehicles more than 10 years which are yet running on roads with old technology which lacks not only safety norms but creates pollution.
Gadkari has now asked automobile manufacturers to shift focus from manufacturing diesel-fuelled vehicles to those running on cleaner fuels such as bio-diesel, bio-CNG, hybrid and electricity. He added his ministry would do more for such vehicles than for diesel-run ones that are more polluting. The minister said shifting dependence on diesel for transport will help the country’s save huge foreign exchange.
How would it work?
- They are bringing up a scheme that if you sell your old vehicle you will get a certificate which on being produced at the time of new purchase will get you a discount of up to Rs 50,000.
- For small vehicles like cars it will be up to Rs 30,000.
- There will be exemptions in taxes and total benefits for big vehicles like trucks, amounting up to Rs 1.5 lakh.
This interesting initiative will open up many doors to the Indian economy, creating employment and also cater to the very need of the hour to recycle old vehicles.
A factor of novelty in this government is that they are working and seem to be committed to end “permit raj” and would ensure barrier free seamless movement of inter state permit holders of goods vehicles. The permit raj is causing many hardships for the common man and needs to be put to an end for quicker progress, and also ending corruption.
We hope this new policy, if and when implemented would help motivate Indians to give up on what they’re stuck on in the lure of getting monetary benefits!
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