NEW DELHI: Within a month of launch of Parivartan scheme, nearly 1,500 truck or bus owners in Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR) have registered to seek benefits being offered by the Government to replace their old and high-emission commercial vehicles. Buoyed by the response, the ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH) is targeting 25,000 registrations by mid-October under the scheme.
Parivartan (Programme for Accelerated Renewal and Incentivisation of Vehicle Assets for Reducing Transport Air Pollution and Network Emissions) aims at accelerating the replacement of Bharat Stage (BS) IV and earlier standards ) trucks and buses in the Delhi-NCR with cleaner BS-VI or electric vehicles.
It is designed to cut vehicular pollution and modernise fleets across districts in Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh (UP). Briefing about the achievement made under the scheme so far, secretary, MoRTH V Umashankar on Friday said that the impact of Parivartan would be seen in October, when fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) and PM 10) levels start increasing significantly, next year.
“This is the first step towards a change to mitigate pollution going on for years in Delhi-NCR. It is a complicated scheme as multiple government agencies and vehicle manufacturers are involved. Single portal was launched so that beneficiaries don’t run from pillar to post. We are ready to scale up the scheme to the next level. We are targeting 25,000 registrations by October ... .the impact of the scheme will be seen on pollution by October next year,” said Umashankar.
Response to the scheme in UP and Rajasthan has not been as per the expectation of the Government till now while Delhi (850 vehicles) and Haryana (450 vehicles) have seen maximum enrollment for the scheme. Around 2.31 vehicles including two lakh trucks and 31,840 buses in 24 districts in Delhi-NCR are eligible under the scheme. According to the ministry, old trucks and buses make up only three percent of the total vehicle fleet, they generate a disproportionate 36 percent of total vehicular pollution in the region.
The secretary further informed that 35 old vehicles had been scrapped and an additional 50 units had been sold, taking benefits of the scheme. Additionally, four new replacement vehicles have been registered. The scheme has a total financial outlay of Rs 9,585 crore, including Rs 5,041 crore as Central Government support.
The MoRTH is implementing the scheme, while funding will be routed through the National Capital Region Planning Board (NCRPB) under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA). The scheme offers a strong package of financial incentives to make vehicle replacement financially viable. The beneficiary gets 100 percent concession on Motor Vehicle Tax, total waiver on registration fees, five percent interest subsidy on vehicle loans and up to eight percent discount offered by participating Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs).
The beneficiary is also entitled to get monthly fuel vouchers for BS-VI diesel and CNG vehicles of Rs 1,200-Rs 4,800 depending on the category of the vehicles. An electric vehicle buyer is eligible for a one-time financial incentive of Rs 64,000-Rs 2.64 lakh.
