The Union Cabinet has approved a ₹9,585 crore scheme to replace older trucks and buses in Delhi-NCR with cleaner BS-VI, CNG and electric vehicles, as announced by Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Wednesday. According to government statements, this represents a major clean-air initiative aimed at reducing vehicular pollution in the National Capital Region. The scheme will be implemented through the National Capital Region Planning Board (NCRPB) under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and will seek to incentivise owners of BS-IV and older commercial vehicles to shift to cleaner BS-VI-compliant or electric vehicles. The programme will be jointly implemented by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas in coordination with Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw told reporters that the scheme is part of the government's push to tackle pollution in the national capital region through plantation drives, electric mobility and charging infrastructure.
The government has significantly expanded the financial incentives package to encourage participation in the scheme. The scheme's outlay of ₹9,585 crore includes ₹5,041 crore from the central government and an estimated ₹1,601 crore in tax concessions from participating states. According to the latest reports, beneficiaries upgrading to new BS-VI or electric vehicles will receive a 100% motor tax concession and a full waiver on registration fees. The comprehensive package includes a 5% interest subvention on vehicle loans for five years, monthly fuel vouchers of up to ₹4,800 depending on vehicle category through oil marketing companies (OMCs), and lump-sum incentives for electric vehicle purchases or certificate-of-deposit trading. Participating state governments will waive registration fees and provide motor vehicle tax concessions of up to 100% for new vehicles and 50% for used vehicles for a period of 10 years. Additionally, automobile manufacturers have committed to offering discounts of up to 8% on ex-showroom prices, making the total package more attractive to fleet operators. The scheme will be implemented through an integrated digital portal that will facilitate eligibility checks, interest subvention claims, fuel voucher credits and monitoring of pollution-reduction outcomes.
The initiative is based on estimates that older diesel vehicles remain a significant contributor to Delhi-NCR's air pollution burden. According to a study by the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) and the Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), the transport sector contributes 14% of PM2.5 emissions, 40% of carbon monoxide emissions and 63% of nitrogen oxide emissions in Delhi-NCR. Trucks and buses alone account for 36% of PM2.5 emissions despite constituting only about 3% of the total vehicle fleet. The government added that a single pre-BS heavy-duty vehicle emits as much pollution as 14 BS-VI vehicles, while a BS-IV vehicle emits 2.7 times more than a BS-VI counterpart. Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director at the Centre for Science and Environment, said targeting older commercial vehicles could yield substantial benefits because of their disproportionately high emissions. "This scheme to swap legacy trucks and buses in Delhi-NCR along with fiscal support is an important step forward to improve regional air quality. Studies have shown that even though heavy-duty vehicles make up just 3% of the vehicle fleet in NCR, they are responsible for a staggering 36% of transport-related particulate emissions and toxic gases," she said. In Delhi specifically, light goods vehicles purchased under the scheme must be electric, while buses will be permitted only in BS-VI CNG or electric variants.
Under the approved framework, vehicle owners will be required to follow specific procedures for transitioning to cleaner vehicles. BS-III and older vehicles will have to be compulsorily scrapped at registered vehicle scrapping facilities, while BS-IV vehicles can either be scrapped or sold outside NCR in non-NCAP cities and towns. To avail benefits, owners will be required to purchase and register BS-VI-compliant or electric vehicles within NCR. In Delhi, government-owned vehicles will not be eligible for the scheme. The two-year programme aims to replace over 2 lakh ageing trucks and buses across Delhi-NCR, with the Centre estimating that about 2.07 lakh vehicle owners — comprising about 1.91 lakh trucks and 16,329 buses could potentially be covered under the scheme. An empowered committee headed by the Cabinet Secretary will oversee implementation, while district collectors and district magistrates will monitor the programme at the local level. The government said benefits provided by the Centre will continue for five years from the date of registration of the new vehicle, extending support beyond the two-year enrollment period. The scheme assumes significance as the Delhi government has announced a ban on the entry of BS-IV commercial vehicles from November this year, with fleet-owner associations previously arguing that such moves would adversely affect transport operations.
While the scheme targets a highly polluting segment, experts caution that it may not deliver dramatic air quality improvements on its own. Shubham Thakur, a climate and sustainability expert, said replacing nearly 200,000 older commercial vehicles could reduce emissions of NOx and black carbon significantly. "If a large majority of the targeted fleet is replaced with BS-VI vehicles, transport-sector PM emissions could fall by roughly 20-40% while transport-sector NOx emissions could decline by around 30-50%," he said. However, he added that transport is only one contributor to Delhi-NCR's pollution burden, noting that winter smog is also driven by stubble burning, industry, dust, biomass burning and adverse weather. Vaibhav Pratap Singh, executive director at the Climate and Sustainability Initiative, said the timing may work in the scheme's favour because many BS-IV vehicles are approaching the end of their first ownership cycle. "The scheme comes at an opportune time for truck owners operating BS-IV or older vehicles, many of which were last sold in 2020 and are likely nearing the end of their first ownership cycle," Singh said. He suggested that credit-guarantee mechanisms could further strengthen adoption by encouraging banks and non-banking finance companies to expand lending for electric trucks and buses.
