The government on Tuesday said it expects the automobile industry revenue to double to ₹15 lakh crore, from ₹7.5 lakh crore,) in the next five years.

Speaking at the inaugural of Maruti Suzuki Toyotsu India (MSTI)’s centre for vehicle scrapping and recycling in Noida, Nitin Gadkari, Minister for Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), said, “This is the second such centre in India and I am happy that cooperation from the auto industry is coming and expect 200-300 more centres to come up in next two years.”

Gadkari said he will approach the Finance Minister for giving some rebates on the GST to customers who go to buy new vehicles, after scrapping their old ones.

“I will urge the automobile companies to give benefits of ₹1-1.5 lakh on purchase of new vehicles to customers who come with scrappage certificates from these centres. I will also meet the Finance Minister in the next few days and would request for some incentives,” he said.

Also read: A scrappage policy just for the record

MSTI is a joint venture between Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL) and Toyota Tsusho Group (Toyota Tsusho Corporation and Toyota Tsusho India Private Limited) with each owning 50 per cent equity.

Speaking at the occasion, Kenichi Ayukawa, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, MSIL, urged the government for detailed policies for vehicles to be inspected from time to time.

“Like in all other major automobile markets, we need a detailed policy that requires vehicles to be inspected and certified to be road-worthy every three or four years or a scientific based frequency. I hope that my suggestion for a fitness policy will meet your kind consideration,” he said.

Ayukawa, who is also the President of Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), also said it is important to regularly check road worthiness and environment friendliness of these vehicles so that a car is safe for use on the road, and for this it may not be recommended to wait for 15 years.

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