NOIDA: The Noida transport department registered 1.17 lakh (1,17,576) vehicles in the 2022-23 financial year, the highest in the past five years.
Earlier in 2021-22, the department registered 77,542 vehicles, which means Noida has seen a 52% rise in vehicle registrations in 2022-23.
Among the newly-registered vehicles are 42,225 four-wheelers and 63,843 two-wheelers, while the rest are three-wheelers and e-rickshaws.
Siyaram Verma, assistant regional transport officer at ARTO administration, confirmed the sharp rise in vehicle registrations. “This financial year, we registered 1,17,576 new vehicles and collected over Rs 600 crore in revenue. In 2021-22, we registered 77,542 vehicles and collected Rs 362 crore in revenue,” he said.
The transport department data shows 88,301 vehicle registrations in 2018-19 and 92,242 in 2019-2020. Due to the Covid outbreak, the number dropped to 65,658 in 2020-21. From then on, it has been increasing and crossed the one lakh mark this financial year.
On Diwali week in October 2022, the transport department recorded a rise in sales compared to the previous year. The sales of luxury vehicles on Diwali went up to 107 from 44 in 2021, a 2.5 times increase.
Currently, there are 8,76,679 vehicles registered in Noida, including 5,32,001 two-wheelers, 2,60,456 four-wheelers (private), 2,444 two-wheelers (commercial), 13,041 cabs, 21,395 goods carrier, 19,055 autos, 10,814 e-rickshaws, 3,248 buses, 1,621 school buses, 579 ambulances, 7,804 tractors, 1,817 three wheelers (goods) and 2,404 other vehicles.
Santokh Singh, vice president (sales) of Koncept Automobiles Pvt Ltd, a Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd dealership with three showrooms in Noida, said their sales have overall increased by 59% this financial year. “In March 2023, we sold and registered 460 vehicles, whereas we sold 250 vehicles in March last year,” he said.
A manager of a Honda showroom in Sector 11 also said there has been a rise in sales of vehicles this year against last year.
Anurag Kulshreshtha, president of road safety NGO TRAX, attributed the rise in sales to robust economic growth and a poor public transport system in Noida. “Since the Covid outbreak, normalcy has returned, and people have started working and earning. People who could not invest during the pandemic have started investing in private vehicles. The vehicle sales have also increased because Noida lacks a good public transport system,” he said.
On the other hand, the Noida CNG Autorickshaw Drivers’ Association members met RTO Ghaziabad Arun Kumar on Monday, urging him to ensure transparency in the allotment of 1,000 permits for NCR autos.
Chaudhury Om Prakash Gurjar, president of the association, said that the transport department announced the issue of these permits for NCR autos last week. “We then received information that some brokers and middlemen have become active. We have urged the transport department to ensure transparency so that only eligible auto drivers get the permits,” he said.
