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The National Green Tribunal (NGT) and the government are at loggerheads over a ban on old vehicles plying in the National Capital Region. But even if the ban does come into place, as the NGT once desired, it will only transfer the polluting vehicles out of Delhi.
A policy that treats pollution as an equal threat to Delhi and the rest of the country would consider scrapping old vehicles across the country. But India does not have one at the moment, though the automobile fuel policy has contemplated one.
A scrapping policy is a government programme to promote replacement of old vehicles with modern ones with better emission standards. Large-scale scrap programmes have been introduced across the world. The policy stimulates the automobile industry and take inefficient, polluting vehicles off the road. The European Union adopted it as a strategy to also beat the economic downturn in 2008.
Proponents say existing international models of public scrapping policies, subject to adjustment for India's unique socio-economic conditions, adequately address their demands and concerns. In India, a comprehensive scrap policy was led forward by the expert committee on auto fuel vision and policy 2025 last year.
A study sponsored by the ministry of heavy industries has recommended monetary incentives - Rs 25,000 for a car and Rs 10,000 for a two-wheeler - to encourage people to offer their vehicles as scrap.
The committee felt commercial vehicles above 15 years should be phased out, but left the age of vehicles to the final discretion of the ministry of road transport and highways.
The automobile industry at the time supported scrapping of vehicles 12 years or older. "We have been in discussion with the government over a policy that gives incentive to owners in the form of cash or rebate to let go of their old vehicles. Separate fleet modernisation and end-of-life policies are required," said Vishnu Mathur, director-general of the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM).
"There is a lack of scrap units in the organised sector, but if the policy comes through, private entrepreneurs will set up scrapyards," he said, adding that speedy implementation of BS V norms would take care of 90 per cent of PM2.5 pollution.
Automobile manufacturers support a scrap policy because it raises market demand for new cars. In Delhi, the market share of diesel vehicles is about 45 per cent. As most commercial vehicles are diesel powered, the segment is bound to get a boost in the region. With recent data suggesting slow growth in the automobile sector, this is significant.
However, there is also demand for delinking mandatory scrapping altogether from the NGT ruling and all subsequent steps towards environmental protection. SP Singh, senior fellow at the Indian Foundation for Transport Research and Training, said support for a scrapping policy increased after every slump in car sales.
"It does not take into account undue stress on the economy and the logistics involved in the transportation sector. Instead, registration of new diesel vehicles, commercial or otherwise, should be stopped in Delhi," he added. Stressing that existing mechanisms to deal with polluting vehicles were adequate, he said implementation was key, without which financial irregularities might crop up under the new policy as well.
| VEHICLE SCRAPPING POLICY ACROSS THE GLOBE |
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SOUTH EAST ASIA China: China substituted an estimated 2.7 million high polluters from the national car fleet by offering rebates of $450 to $900 from June 2009 to May 2010 |
Malaysia: Launched in 2009, a scrappage scheme paying owners of vehicles at least 10 years old MR5,000 ($1,354) was shared equally by the government and auto makers
Indonesia: Spiralling traffic congestion in capital city Jakarta had forced the city government to think of a car scrappage scheme but the central government's 'low-cost green car policy' that makes cheap cars widely available had been a setback
Bangladesh: No scrappage policy adopted so far. As the automobile industry is not developed in the country, most commercial/ heavy vehicles are imported from India.
Sri Lanka: The Sri Lankan Ministry of Environment and Renewable Energy and that of Transport had suggested scrapping of high polluting vehicles as part of an environmental sustainability report.
EUROPE
United Kingdom: The UK introduced a scrappage incentive scheme in the 2009 budget whereby Scrapping a car more than 10 years old allowed for a £2,000 cash incentive, with the money being shared equally between the govt and the auto industry
France: Cars older than 10 years could be exchanged to buy a new car meeting particular CO2emission standards. It started with €1000 for a car with less than 160 g/km
Germany: The largest scrappage scheme ever, Germany paid a premium of€2,500 ($3,320) to every owner of a car older than nine years when buying a new car
United States: The famous $3 billion US federal "cash for clunkers" scheme, succeeded in improving fuel efficiency by 58% in the country
Japan: Japan introduced a program for 1 year from April 1, 2009 onwards, offering up to 250,000 yen (US$2,500) to trade in vehicles 13 years old or more for new environmentally friendly cars
Others advocate a stick-and-carrot approach. With the financial ability of consumers to replace vehicles still low, fiscal incentives for buying better replacement vehicles are a must; just banning old vehicles will not work.
Anumita Roy Chaudhury, head of the air pollution and clean transportation programme at the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), said, "The ban will only be effective if scrapped vehicles are strictly replaced by vehicles compliant with latest Euro V, VI norms."
She added CSE had requested the government to ensure that BS IV and BS-V norms were implemented nationwide by 2016 and 2020, respectively.
Estimates show that yearly carbon dioxide emissions from the road transport sector could reach 500 million tonnes by 2020. One way out is technology that allows for almost 75 per cent of the materials in a vehicle to be recycled. This includes polymers and residual metals. Not only is this crucial to the success of a scrap policy, but also beneficial to automobile manufacturers, which can lower costs and increase resource utilisation.
The government had decided to set up 10 modern recycling centres by 2014 to deal with this problem, but the plan fizzled. The large unorganised automobile dismantling sector in the country continues to take apart about 25,000 tonnes of automobile residue every year, although the recovery efficiency is low. Currently there is only one centre in Chennai capable of disposing one vehicle per day. This for a country that added more than 5,000 vehicles every day last year, according to the International Organisation of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers.
