The Indian government in this year’s annual Union Budget announced a series of bills & policies to help curb the burgeoning problem of air pollution. Schemes like Voluntary Vehicle Scraping Policy and Green Tax will pave a way towards a greener & cleaner India.
Nirmala Sitharaman during Union Budget speech announced that the government will introduce a voluntary vehicle scrapping policy to incentivise people to replace their old vehicles with new ones. Under the policy, personal vehicles will be required to undergo an automated fitness test after 20 years and the same is directed for commercial vehicles after 15 years. Apart from that, green taxes and other levies will be applied to such vehicles, if a user decides to continue with his/her old vehicle rather than scrapping it. The Scraping Policy is planned to come into effect from April 1, 2022. The details of the policy will be unveiled soon.
Green Tax rate will depend on the type of vehicle and engine fuel type(petrol/diesel). It will be applicable at the rate of 10-25% of road tax on transport vehicles older than 8 years, meanwhile, personal vehicle owners get relaxation in the period, extending the tenure to 15 years. Diesel vehicles will attract a higher rate than its petrol counterparts. Public transport vehicles will be charged lower taxes, whereas vehicle owners in highly polluted cities like Delhi-NCR will have to bear a Green Tax burden of up to 50%.
“Revenue collected from the Green Tax to be kept in a separate account and used for tackling pollution, and for states to set up start-of-art facilities for emission monitoring” informed the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways through a press release. Hybrid, Electric, CNG, LPG, ethanol vehicles are exempted from Green Tax as they leave a smaller carbon footprint, compared to their conventional-fuel consuming counterparts.
The policies have been rolled out to promote and motivate people to switch to environment-friendly alternatives like Electric Vehicles and Public Transport. During Budget 2021-22, the establishment of MetroLite & MetroNeo in multiple cities has also been announced for a low cost and energy-efficient public commute.
“MetroLite and MetroNeo will be deployed to provide metro rail systems at much lesser costs with the same experience, convenience and safety in Tier 2 cities and peripheral areas of Tier 1 cities also,” informed the Finance Minister during the Budget session.
Nashik will be the first city to get MetroNeo. Along with Nashik, metro projects in Kochi, Chennai, Bengaluru, Nagpur will also be funded by Central Government. A sum of ₹18,000 crore has also been allocated from 2021-22 Union Budget to support augmentation of public bus transport services in urban areas.
More Stories
Bikers For Good: Riding for a Cause
Who’s Gonna Save the World Tonight?
Health Budget increased in the wake of Corona Pandemic