Mr, Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, had announced a new vehicle scrappage policy, to reduce the number of older vehicles plying on the roads; and limit pollution as also create demand for new vehicles with new technologies, in March 2021.
In this regard, Mahindra & Mahindra has become the first Indian Auto Major to announce an end-to-end scrappage policy. An MOU has been signed by the company with Mahindra MSTC Recycling Private Limited (MMRPL). This will provide the customers a facility of an end-to-end solution for the scrapping of vehicles, a first of its kind in India. Presently, MMRPL procures used products and products that are at the end of their life cycle and then dismantles and scraps them. This is under the brand name CERO.
“Any customer intending to purchase a new Mahindra vehicle by scrapping or exchanging the old vehicle which is more than 15 years can do so at any Mahindra dealership. “These services would provide utmost convenience to the customer without the need to look for a vehicle scrapping agency or dealer,” a company statement said.
In India, in general, a Passenger Vehicle is defined to have a life of 20 years and a Commercial Vehicle has a life of 15 Years. In Western Countries, such older vehicles are sent to scrapyards, where they are dismantled and the steel and other useful metals and plastics are crushed and recycled and reused. In India, as of now, there is no such structured policy. Most older vehicles continue to run with impunity, affecting the fuel requirement, polluting the air adversely. Or they would just like it as unused scrap.