Dumping old cars will help lower pollution, says Renault India

Lauding the government's proposed policy on scrapping of old vehicles, auto maker Renault on Thursday said phasing out old polluting cars would declog roads and reduce the pollution level in the country.

"One Euro-1 car is equal to four non-Euro cars in terms of pollution. So, old cars moving out will help declog the road because we can't build infrastructure overnight," Renault India CEO and Managing Director Sumit Sawhney told PTI.

"We have to declog. We have to bring newer technological cars which are more environmental friendly and fuel efficient because India still is dependent on forex for oil import," he said. Sawhney said the government has already started talking about the scrappage policy which is going to be very important for the automobile industry as it will ease out traffic to reduce pollution.

The government is working on a policy which seeks to provide incentives for surrendering old polluting vehicles. The draft of the much-awaited policy is ready and would be put in public domain within a week to seek views of the stakeholders and general public, Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari had said last week.

On the proposed new tax regime GST, Sawhney said that GST is extremely important and it needs to move faster. The GST will also bring a lot on the table in terms of easing business, he said.

"I think the government clearly has a political will, but it requires all the parties to come together and take that decision. What I am seeing today is all the parties are making announcements that they will help pass the GST," he said.