The centre has approved scrapping of more than 9 lakh vehicles that are older than 15 years according to Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari. Speaking at a session on future of mobility organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI), he said that the centre is pushing towards decarbonising the road transport sector with scrapping of old vehicles, adoption of Electric Vehicles, and retrofitting fossil fuel run vehicles on the agenda.
“We have abundant solar energy that we can convert to electricity for EVs. This will ensure a zero carbon energy cycle. The municipal corporations and state transport undertakings are procuring and operating electric vehicles for their intercity and interstate fleets,” Gadkari said.
The centre is also pushing for scrapping older vehicles in a bid to move them of the road.
“We have now approved the scrapping of more than 9 lakh vehicles that are more than 15 years old. Old and polluting cars and buses will go off the road and new vehicles with alternative fuels will replace them. This will further reduce air pollution to a great extent,” he said.
Gadkari said that Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) as a fuel for long run trucks and buses is economically viable. “I have recently inaugurated LNG trucks that can go up to 1,400 kilometres in a single fill of the tank. This can transport the goods in the country with minimal pollution,” he said, adding that the cost of conversion of diesel truck into LNG is just Rs 10 lakh, which can be recovered in a year.
He also said the retro fitment of old and polluting diesel buses into Bio-CNG and LNG is an innovative alternative to cut down pollution from old buses without impacting financial health of the state transport corporations.
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