Old Vehicles Out: Mumbai’s First Official Scrapping Centres To Open In Panvel, Karjat Soon

Mumbai, a city with very little space to spare, will soon have its first official centres for scrapping old and abandoned vehicles, often called khatara vehicles. As reported by Hindustan Times (HT), these centres are being set up in Panvel and Karjat. The decision was made earlier this week in a meeting between Regional Transport Offices (RTOs) and the Maharashtra transport department. The centres are expected to start working by July or August this year.

These will be among eight vehicle scrapping centres across Maharashtra. Other centres are planned in Pune, Nashik, Nagpur, Jalna, and Raigad. The project is part of the national Vehicle Scrappage Policy, which aims to remove old and polluting vehicles from the roads and ease traffic problems.

A senior official from the transport department said that land has already been identified for the Mumbai centres and construction is underway. Once ready, vehicle owners can bring their old vehicles to these authorised centres for scrapping.

Those who scrap their vehicles at these centres will get incentives. This includes a fair market price for the vehicle and up to 15 per cent tax discount when buying a new vehicle of the same type.

The tax benefits will last up to eight years for commercial vehicles and up to 15 years for private vehicles. A certificate of deposit will be given at the time of scrapping, which will be valid for two years and must be shown to get the tax benefit.

This step follows recent comments from the Bombay High Court, which criticised the poor handling of abandoned vehicles in the city. The court said these vehicles add to traffic jams and create problems for pedestrians. The state is now working to follow central government rules and set up scrapping centres to manage the problem properly.