Vehicle scrappage policy to come in next 15 days: Nitin Gadkari

New Delhi: The much-delayed scrappage policy may get cleared in the next 15 days,Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari informed.

The minister said it has been cleared from his end and is in the last lap of finalization awaiting clearance from the cabinet.

On being asked about subsidy, he said it is upon the cabinet to decide subsidies.The proposed policy is aimed to create new demand stimulus in the auto sector which has been facing one of the worst slowdowns.

On July 26, 2019, the government proposed amendments to the Motor Vehicle Act to allow scrapping of vehicles older than 15 years in a bid to speed up the adoption of electric vehicles. In a draft notification, the government had proposed renewal of fitness certificates for vehicles older than 15 years every six months, instead of the current timeframe of one year.

The notification also stated that the newly purchased vehicles will be exempted for the payment of fees for a registration certificate and assignment of the new registration mark, only upon scrapping the old vehicle in the same category.

On Tuesday, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that several rounds of inter-ministerial consultation pertaining to the scrappage policy have already been done and it is close to finalization.

The road ministry had earlier issued draft guidelines in October to set up vehicle scrapping centres in the country, to protect the environment and promote a legally-backed dismantling and scrapping industry.