Bhubaneswar, September 26: Odisha government vehicles that are more than 15-year old, need to be scrapped by October 15.

The Odisha Commerce and Transport Department has issued a directive to all government departments in this connection on Friday.

In the correspondences, the transport department authorities have asked the government offices to preferably phase out and scrap vehicles that are more than 15 years old latest by October 15, 2025.

In a letter addressed to Additional Chief Secretaries, Principal Secretaries, and Commissioners-cum-Secretaries of all departments, the government has emphasized the need to ensure scrapping of these vehicles at the Registered Vehicle Scrapping Facilities (RVSF), in the respective districts.

Worth mentioning, around 4,000 government vehicles engaged in the state offices, have already been scrapped earlier in the state.The state received special assistance of over Rs 300 crore from the Union Ministry of Finance for Capital Investment in this connection.According to VAHAN database,over 5,000 government vehicles exceeding 15-year lives, yet wait for scrapping.

The Ministry of Finance has also announced additional incentives for states under the ‘Scheme for Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment 2025-26,’ which includes support for the scrapping of old vehicles.

The incentive per scrapped vehicle ranges from Rs 50,000 to Rs 1.5 lakh, depending on the number of vehicles scrapped. For instance, scrapping between 4,001 and 6,000 vehicles will fetch Rs 1.2 lakh per vehicle, while scrapping over 6,000 vehicles will bring in Rs 1.5 lakh per vehicle.