Green tax: Over 4 crore vehicles on Indian roads are older than 15 years, says Centre

Karnataka has 70 lakh vehicles older than 15 years, the highest in the country.

The ministry of road transport and highways has revealed that over four crore vehicles older than 15 years are plying on roads across India, which will come under the green tax, with Karnataka topping the chart with 70 lakh such old vehicles.

The list, published by the ministry, doesn’t include details of Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana and Lakshadweep, as their records were not available, news agency PTI reported.

Over 50 per cent of these old vehicles are more than 20 years old, the ministry said.

The ministry, in January, approved a proposal of levying green tax from these old vehicles after consulting with the states. The move is aimed at reducing pollution being contributed by these polluting vehicles.

Transport vehicles older than eight years could be charged the Green Tax at the time of renewal of fitness certificate at the rate of 10 to 25 per cent of the road tax, and personal vehicles are to be charged Green Tax at the time of renewal of Registration Certification after 15 years, the proposal said.

Vehicles like strong hybrids, electric vehicles, CNG, ethanol, LPG vehicles are exempt from this tax.

In Union Budget 2021, the Centre also came up with a voluntary vehicle scrapping policy, where automobile users giving up their old vehicles will get a five per cent rebate on purchasing new vehicles.

List of states with the highest number of old vehicles plying on roads

Karnataka has 70 lakh vehicles older than 15 years, the highest among the states that have records available

Uttar Pradesh occupies the second spot with 56.54 lakh vehicles, of which 24.55 lakh are older than 20 years.

Delhi is in third place with 49.93 lakh old vehicles. Out of these, 35.11 lakh are older than 20 years.

Kerala is fourth with 34.64 lakh vehicles older than 15 years.

Tamil Nadu has 33.43 lakh vehicles, falling in this category.

Punjab has 25.38 lakh vehicles older than 15 years

West Bengal has 22.69 lakh vehicles, fit for green tax.

Maharashtra, Odisha, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Haryana have these vehicles in the range of 17.58 lakh and 12.29 lakh, the news agency reported adding that the number of such vehicles ranges between 1 lakh and 5.44 lakh for Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Puducherry, Assam, Bihar, Goa, Tripura and the union territories of Dadra-Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. In other states, the number is below one lakh each.

Source: hindustantimes