Explain the significance of scrappage policy of the government of India from various perspectives. (200 Words)
Refer - Financial Express
Enrich the answer from other sources, if the question demands.
IAS Parliament 4 years
KEY POINTS
In Budget speech that scrapping of old vehicles will be voluntary, and personal vehicles will be allowed to run after 20 years with fitness certification from automated fitness centres.
Environmental perspective
· Vehicles manufactured before 2000 account for 15% of the total vehicular pollution in India because these emit 10-25 times the pollutants that modern vehicles do.
· Recycling of vehicles can lead to optimal utilisation of resources.
Economic perspective
· If 2-3 crore vehicles are to be discarded by 2025 under the end-of-life indicated by the Budget, the government will need to offer generous incentives, say, large tax-cuts for purchase of replacements.
Transportation
· A transition to electric vehicles, which the government has been keen on, will need far larger incentives apart from creating support infrastructure.
· Upgraded buses running on Compressed Natural Gas have to be introduced.
Way forward
While it is good that the government is open to drawing a distinction between old and polluting, it would do better if it were to implement a scrapping policy in a graded manner.
