Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Road Transport and Highways of India today inaugurated a new Registered Vehicle Scrapping Facility (RSVF) in the presence of Moolchand Sharma, Cabinet Minister of Transport in the Government of Haryana. The government-authorised vehicle scrapping facility has been set up in Fatehpur village in Nuh district of Haryana by Abhishek K Kaiho (AKK), a partnership between The Abhishek Group and Japan-based Kaiho Sangyo.
“The AKK plant is the first unique facility in India that uses modern technology to salvage and reuse the maximum number of components from the vehicle and help recycle commodities like steel and plastic by melting and reuse in an environmentally friendly manner. The plant has a capacity to recycle 1,800 vehicles every month and we will setup another 7 to 8 facilities across the country within the next few years” said Anirudh Kedia, Director of AKK.
The National Vehicle Scrappage Policy was launched in August last year and aims to phase out unfit and polluting vehicles and also promote a circular economy. The government has claimed that the material recycling sector gives direct and indirect employment to 4 crore people and this number is expected to go up to 5 crore by 2025.
Under the new scrappage policy, effective from April 1 this year, the Centre affirms that states and Union Territories will provide up to 25% tax rebate on road tax for vehicles that are purchased after scrapping old vehicles, upon showing the scrapping certificate. Vehicles at the end of their registration period are required to undergo fitness testing. Moreover, commercial vehicles require mandatory testing after 10 years while it’s set at 15 years for passenger vehicles.
India’s first government-approved vehicle scrapping and recycling facility (Maruti Suzuki – Toyotsu vehicle scrapping and recycling centre) located in Noida, UP was also inaugurated by Gadkari in November last year. Gadkari had also recently stated that the government aims to develop at least one automobile scrapping facility within 150 kilometres of each city centre.
