Nitin Gadkari came to the rescue of Delhi Government and said that it was not Delhi Government but NGT which imposed ban on 15 year old vehicles

Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday said that the ban on the use of old diesel and petrol vehicles has not been imposed by the government, but by the National Green Tribunal (NGT). He said there is no ban on plying of 15-year-old vehicles under the vehicle scrapping policy of the government. In a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha, Gadkari said as per the April 7, 2015 order of the NGT and the directions of the Supreme Court, diesel vehicles older than 10 years and petrol vehicles older than 15 years have been banned in the National Capital Region (NCR). The Supreme Court has directed the state transport departments to implement these orders. The minister said the government has formulated the Voluntary Vehicle Fleet Modernisation Programme (V-VMP) or Vehicle Scrapping Policy, which aims at phasing out old and polluting vehicles. The validity of private vehicles outside Delhi-NCR will depend on the fitness certificate issued by the Automatic Testing Centres (ATS). However, the maximum validity limit for vehicles registered in the name of governments will be more than 15 years. In a written reply to another question, Gadkari said 13,795 black spots have been identified on national highways so far. He said that the repair of 'black spots "is a continuous process and short-term improvements are made on an urgent basis. Out of these, 11,866 'black spots "have been covered for short-term improvement works while 5,324 places have been covered for long-term improvement works, he added. Replying to another question, Gadkari said the estimated cost of the 'Dehradun-Delhi Access Controlled Highway Project' is Rs 11, 868.6 crore and it is targeted to be completed by October 2025.