Vehicle population crosses 2.5 crore mark in TN

Vehicle population in Tamil Nadu has crossed the 2.5 crore mark, with two-wheelers dominating the state roads, Transport Minister M R Vijayabhaskar informed the state Assembly.

While the overall number of vehicles of all types stood at about 2.56 crore as on March 31, 2018, two-wheelers constituted 84 per cent of these.

"The two-wheeler vehicular population is 215.86 lakh (over 2.15 crore) of the total vehicular population," he said.

Of these, motorcycles topped the chart at nearly 1.3 crore. There were 23.61 lakh cars in the state.

Compared to the previous year, the overall number of vehicles has registered a 7.62 per cent increase in 2017-18, he said.

Listing the government's efforts on controlling vehicular pollution, he said new vehicles were exempted from obtaining "pollution under control certificate" for one year from the date of registration.

The certificate should be obtained once in six months thereafter, the minister said.

Diesel-powered autorickshaws were not permitted to be driven in Chennai and neighbouring Tiruvallur and Kancheepuram districts, the minister said.

In Chennai metropolitan area, new permits were being given only for LPG/petrol driven autorickshaws, he said.

Vijayabhaskar said the Transport Department was "one of the major revenue earners" for the state government as it collects various taxes and fees.

The department had earned Rs 5362 crore as revenue in FY 2017-18, he added.

The government was mulling operating electric buses across Tamil Nadu, he said.

The minister also proposed onboard entertainment for passengers travelling on Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) buses in Chennai, keeping in mind the additional travel time consumed due to factors including heavy traffic.

Consumer awareness programmes and some film-related content will be part of this initiative, Vijayabhaskar said.