BHUBANESWAR: The Odisha government has decided to scrap all government vehicles of more than 15 years old in the registered vehicle scrapping facility (RVSF) by mid-October.
Highlighting the government’s decision to replace all old vehicles with new ones, mostly electric vehicles, principal secretary of Commerce and Transport department Usha Padhee has asked all departments to scrap all old vehicles by October 15.
She said about 4,000 government vehicles have been scrapped by March 31, this year and for this achievement, the state has received a special assistance of Rs 300 crore from the Ministry of Finance for capital investment.
The special financial assistance offered by the Centre for vehicle scrapping ranges from Rs 50,000 to Rs 1.5 lakh per vehicle. States will receive an incentive of Rs 50,000 for each vehicle if up to 500 vehicles are scrapped and Rs 60,000 per vehicle if 501 to 1,000 vehicles are scrapped. Similarly, the incentive amount is Rs 1.5 lakh per vehicle if the number of vehicles to be scrapped crosses 6,000.
“The sole purpose of the scheme is to phase out the old vehicles. The government departments have a key role in phasing out their old vehicles. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways are monitoring the number of vehicles scrapped from the VAHAN database,” she said.
The departments have been directed to review the number of old vehicles of more than 15 years engaged in all offices including all field offices and arrange to scrap those old vehicles in the RVSF.
Sources said, the state government has 6,241 old vehicles which will be scrapped. The Home department has the highest 3,156 vehicles, followed by 484 vehicles of Commerce and Transport department, 426 of Housing and Urban Development department, 378 of Health and Family Welfare department, 193 of Forest and Environment department and 134 of Water Resources department.