Compare scrappage and retrofitment as routes to cleaner vehicle fleets in a circular economy.

India's end-of-life vehicles (ELVs) could rise from about 23 million in 2025 to nearly 50 million by 2030 [1]. There are two circular routes for these vehicles. Scrappage recovers materials from the old vehicle. Retrofitment keeps the vehicle and replaces its combustion powertrain with a certified electric kit. The two routes work best together; they are not rivals.

Scrappage: recycling the vehicle

• Legal base: The Vehicle Scrapping Facility Rules, 2021, framed under the MV Act, 1988 and CMVR, 1989, set up Registered Vehicle Scrapping Facilities (RVSFs) [2].
• Circularity: Steel, aluminium and plastics are recovered. NITI Aayog wants uniform State concessions against a Certificate of Deposit (CoD), with de-registration only after a valid CoD is submitted [1].
• Limits: Every replacement means building a new vehicle. That adds fresh manufacturing emissions and a high capital cost for small fleet owners.

Retrofitment: reusing the vehicle

• Legal base: Rule 115D, CMVR allows hybrid or electric kits that comply with AIS-123 [3].
• Circularity: The body and chassis are kept, which is "reuse", a higher rung than "recycle". Example: the ARAI-tested RetroKit for auto-rickshaws, backed by TDB-DST [4].
• Limits: Type approval covers one kit on one vehicle model. It can be extended only to models within 15% gross vehicle weight, and only installers authorised by the kit maker may fit kits [3]. This slows scaling and keeps control with kit makers.

Comparative assessment

Parameter	Scrappage	Retrofitment
Circular rung	Recycle	Reuse, extends vehicle life
Emissions	Removes the polluter, but a new build adds emissions	Avoids new-build emissions
Owner's cost	Full new-vehicle purchase	Kit cost only; best value in heavy vehicles
Fiscal support	CoD-linked concessions [1]	None under FAME II [5]; PM E-DRIVE (₹10,900 crore) funds new EVs [6]
Best fit	Unsafe, very old vehicles; two-wheelers and cars	Buses, trucks, three-wheeler fleets

Way forward

• A "retrofit certificate" carrying road-tax benefits equal to the CoD, so the two policies do not compete.
• Platform-wide type approval for vehicles sharing a chassis, plus a public registry of approved kits and installers.
• A dedicated PM E-DRIVE window for bus and truck retrofits.

Scrappage closes the material loop, while retrofitment slows it by extending asset life. A policy that sorts vehicles by segment, scrapping the unsafe and retrofitting the robust, can clean fleets at lower cost and fit India's broader e-mobility push. It would also advance SDG 12 (responsible consumption) and India's Net Zero 2070 commitment.