"The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has introduced a scheme for providing central assistance to the states / UTs / State Road Transport Undertakings for strengthening public transport system," Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways Pon Radhakrishnan told the Lok Sabha in a written reply.
The objective is to provide financial assistance for use of latest information technology such as GPS / GSM-based vehicle tracking, computerised reservation, automatic fare collection, electronic ticket vending machines, passenger information system and the like for inter-city and rural area operations and working out a mobility plan, he said.
As per the latest available data from Vahan Database, the total number of registered motor vehicles as on March 31, 2016 stood at 19,16,73,947.
"The compound annual growth rate of total registered motor vehicles in India for the last 5 years i.E. From 2011 to 2016 was 94.40 per cent. The increase in number of vehicles expected to be on roads during the next five years depends on the new policy of central and state governments," he said.