Anna Mathew
Chennai, 4 October
South Indian states lack registered scrapping units, leading to the dumping of toxic components and causing environmental contamination, three years after the introduction of India’s vehicle scrapping policy.
India has over four crore vehicles older than 15 years and South Indian states such as Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu contribute to more than 30% of such vehicles. Karnataka tops the list with 70 lakh vehicles as per data from The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
The 2021 scrappage policy by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways mandates the scrapping of commercial vehicles older than 15 years and private vehicles older than 20 years, with a requirement for
90% of vehicle parts to be recycled. However, implementation has been slow.
“South Indian states are falling behind in establishing registered scrapping units,” said Yash Pal Sachhar, Vice President of the Society of Indian Auto mobile Manufacturers (SIAM). India currently has 63
operational scrapping units with another 60 under construction and 40 in the planning stage, as per Rajya Sabha records.
Southern states, especially Kerala, is slow in setting up infrastructure compared to indus-
trial powerhouses like Tamil Nadu and Karnataka making the implementation of policy in these regions slow said the Automotive Component Manufacturers
Association of India (ACMA).
India lacks a systemic approach of disposing waste from end-of-life vehicles said Mathew
Jose, CEO of Paperman Environmental Solutions. The policy does not address harmful parts like motor oil and brake fluids which can seep into the soil and cause land degradation.
The smelting process involved in recycling extracted steel can contribute to carbon emissions, especially in industrialized states, said Jose.
The lack of organization in the informal sector worsened the issue. “Dismantling practices damage recyclable parts, reducing recoverable steel,” said Automobile Component Manufacturers Association (ACMA). Black market operators use these reusable parts for resale, improperly discarding the rest, said ACMA spokesperson.
The government aims for a 20% recovery of steel from old vehicles. “Damage to components during dismantling makes it harder to extract materials,” said Sachhar. “This often results in steel and other parts ending up in landfills”.
Calls and emails sent to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) did not elicit a re-
sponse.