The Indian automobile manufacturing industry will consume about 70-80 million mt of steel per year by 2030, accounting for about 70-80 percent of total domestic steel production, according to a forecast in the Economic Survey placed before India’s parliament on Thursday, July 4.
However, without an automobile scrapping policy, the process of scrap generation and processing in the country is very fragmented, resulting in the country currently importing 6-7 million mt of scrap per year, the Economic Survey indicated.
The average ownership of an automobile in India has fallen from 6-8 years to 3-5 years and as a result it has been projected that 21.8 million vehicles will reach end of life within the next six years and this will hold the potential of generating about 10 million mt of scrap, according to the Economic Survey.
It may be noted that the Ministry of Roads and Highways has put the mandatory automobile scrapping policy on the backburner and is instead currently working on an alternative to increase ownership costs of vehicles beyond a specified number of years by increasing registration costs and fees for renewal of certificates of fitness for old vehicles.