In yet another relief aimed at middle class voters, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Government is going to grant 50 per cent concession in the registration and road tax charges for Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) factory fitted private cars. The proposal is a part of Delhi Government’s “Green Budget” to recreate breathing space in the city and to reduce pollution level by promoting the CNG usage.
The project was proposed by the Government in the Budget 2018-19 along with other projects such as 1,000 electric buses, 900 electric feeder buses for last mile connectivity, edge-to-edge paving and landscaping of Public Works Department (PWD) roads and others. Under this Green Budget project, 26 anti-pollution schemes have been listed from various departments of the Delhi Government.
According to the official sources, the finalisation of the scheme is at the last stages and will be placed in the upcoming Cabinet meeting which is likely to be held by end of this month. “The proposal was announced in last year’s Budget and the Government is working on it to implement the scheme as soon as possible to promote CNG vehicles in the city for better environment condition. The file regarding the same is under submission and will be placed before the Cabinet meeting,” said sources.
If everyone converts their vehicles to CNG, the city will be free from hazardous air pollution, said Jasmine Shah, the chairperson of Delhi Dialogue Commission (DDC).
The Government is already promoting CNG vehicles and is taking measures to curb pollution level in the city, said Jasmine Shah, the Chairman of Delhi Dialogue Commission (DDC) adding that the people have confusion about the scheme on which I would like to clear that this scheme will be only for the private car owners and the remaining cab drivers and taxi company can only use CNG fuel.”
The registration charges for any vehicle are a very minimum amount which costs up to Rs 1,000. But the road tax varies car to car such as if a vehicle is purchased for Rs 10 lakh then two percent of that is charged for road tax. It will increase and decrease depending on upon the vehicles prices. However, if this scheme will be implemented, the car owner will be benefited, said transport official.
“According to the data compiled by the Delhi pollution Control Committee (DPCC), concentration of a particulate matters in Delhi’s air pollution has declined by 20 per cent. Data shows that average PM volume in the air in 2011 was 277, which increased to 368 in 2012. Since then, it has been continuously rising, and in 2018 it has again reduced to 277. Similarly, the quantity of PM 2.5 was 136 in 2011 which became 164 in 2012. it is registered 128 in the year 2018. Another polluting element NO2, which was 71 in 2011, increased to 90 in the next years but in 2018 came down to 50 with various efforts of this government. Thus, this scheme will also help to curb pollution,” said another official. He added that it was stated by the Deputy Chief Minister in this year’s Delhi Budget speech.