Maharashtra: Nitin Gadkari wants state to expedite scrapping of 15-year-old vehicles

Nitin Gadkari, Union minister

Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari has asked the Maharashtra government to develop some 200 vehicle scrapping units across the state, with each district to have at least two. Gadkari made this suggestion at a meeting with CM Eknath Shinde and DCM Devendra Fadnavis in Mumbai on Tuesday. The meeting also saw discussion on the progress of roads being built by the National Highway Authority of India with assistance from the state government.

Gadkari said vehicles aged 15 must be scrapped under the national policy, which the state too has adopted. He said big districts should have at least four units each, and small districts at least two scrapping units each. The 150-200 units should be able to provide 10,000-15,000 jobs. Also, Gadkari said, the Mumbai-Goa highway should be concretised completely before the Ganesh festival.

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Work on infrastructure projects worth around Rs 2 lakh crore like roads and bridges, etc., is in progress in the state, but delayed land acquisition and the center-state coordination needed to be fine-tuned time and again. It was decided that CIDCO will partner in the projects by providing land for Kalamboli and six other junctions in Navi Mumbai that will connect the Vadodara-Mumbai Expressway to JNPT/Navi Mumbai Airport.

Shinde and Fadnavis have instructed the officials to ensure that there is no hindrance in seeking permission from the forest department, especially for repairing roads that have existed for many years. Gadkari directed NHAI to submit a proposal to the state regarding the construction of a public transport terminal facility at Ajni, Nagpur, and reviewed multi-model logistics parks at Jalna, Nagpur, Mumbai and Nashik.