Over 19.22 lakh new vehicles registered in Maharashtra in 2021

Over 19.22 lakh new vehicles hit the roads of Maharashtra in 2021, while vehicle registrations increased by 8.26 per cent, an official said on Tuesday. 

According to the Maharashtra transport department, more than 19.22 lakh new vehicles were registered in Maharashtra in 2021, as against over 17.75 lakh registered in 2020. 

Vehicle registration in the state has picked up after a dip of 23.16 per cent in 2020 as compared to the previous year. 

In 2019, over 23.10 lakh vehicles were registered at 50 RTO offices across the state, the official said. Despite the 8.26 per cent rise in registrations in 2021 than the previous year, the number of vehicles registered last year was significantly low compared to the pre-COVID times in 2019, he said. 

As per the transport department data, of the total 19,22,418 newly registered vehicles, 13,16,216 were motorcycles, 3,46,197 private cars and 1,26,551 transport category vehicles, which need permits to operate, such as buses, trucks and taxis. 

In 2020, of the 17,75,737 new vehicles, 12,81,556 were motorcycles, 2,57,529 private cars and 1,19,304 were transport category vehicles, it was stated. 

Over 1.97 lakh new vehicles were registered at the four RTO offices in Mumbai in 2021 and of these, the highest 52,702 vehicles were registered in Wadala RTO office, which has jurisdiction of entire eastern suburbs of the city, the data revealed. 

Though the vehicle registrations went up in the state in 2021, the motor vehicles department is still sceptical about achieving the revenue target for the current financial year. 

Talking to PTI, state transport commissioner Avinash Dhakne said they have set a revenue collection target of ₹10,000 crore for the financial year 2021-22, but it seems difficult due to the slowed vehicle registrations. 

“Vehicle registrations were affected due to the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and they later slowed down due to shortage of chipset,” Dhakne said. 

The department has been struggling to achieve revenue targets since the outbreak of coronavirus in early 2020, and even in 2020-21, the revenue target could not be achieved due to the drop in vehicle registrations, he said. 

In the financial year, the state government also gave around ₹700 crore tax waivers to transporters. One of the worst-hit states in the country due to the pandemic, Maharashtra has reported over 72 lakh COVID-19 cases and more than 1.41 lakh fatalities. 

According to MMVD officials, the vehicle registration has been hit, even though the government has not announced a lockdown.