The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has recently launched the visionary Voluntary Vehicle-Fleet Modernisation Program (Vehicle Scrapping Policy). This Policy is aimed at creating an ecosystem for phasing out old unsafe, polluting vehicles and replacing them with newer safe and fuel-efficient vehicles. The Ministry has also notified the Registered Vehicle Scrapping Facility (RVSF) Rules to enable setting up of modern vehicle scrapping facilities in India which can recycle the vehicles in an environment friendly manner.
The existing vehicle dismantling and recycling industry in Indiais unorganized and recycling of older vehicles is not done in an environment-friendly manner. This not only leads to inefficient resource management, but also non-realisation of the full value of high-strength steel alloys and recovery of valuable rare-earth metals. The existing ELV scrapping cycle has a low recovery percentage and many materials get wasted or are not properly recycled. As per unofficial industry estimates, the recovery percentage in India is about 70-75%, while global benchmarks for recovery from scrapped vehicle are in the range of 85-95%.
Since the prevailing processes in the unorganized sector for recycling/ scrapping are not carried out in an environment-friendly manner, it is the endeavour of this Ministry to promote setting up of RVSF, to enable use of environmentally-friendly processes in this regard.The Vehicle Scrapping Policy thereby createssuch formal business opportunity & promote scientific recycling within the scrapping industry.
The RVSF inaugurated by Minister has been set up in an area of 11,000 sqm with a capacity of handling 24,000 vehicle per year. The plant has been set up by Maruti Suzuki India Ltd in collaboration with Toyota Tshusho Group.Shri Gadkari congratulated Maruti Suzuki and Toyota Tshoshu Group and also requested other stakeholders to come forward to create similar state-of-the-art scrapping and recycling facilities to help achieve the objectives of the Policy.
H.E.Mr Satoshi Suzuki, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Embassy of Japan, India was also present at the inauguration function.