Mumbai: In 17-years, more than four-fold rise in vehicular registration
In just 17 years, Mumbai Metropolitan Region has seen more than a four-fold rise in vehicular registration. Thane region comes at the top with 38.31L vehicle-registrations, followed by Mumbai and Panvel regions. The number of vehicles registered in 2001 was 18.42L, which jumped to 79.71L till March 2018. Poor public transport and easily-available vehicle loans are believed to be the reasons behind the spike.
What is Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR)?
Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) comprises Mumbai (city, suburbs), and its satellite towns-Thane (Kalyan, Vashi, and Vasai), Raigad (Panvel, Pen, Khargar, etc) and Palghar. It has nine municipal corporations and fifteen smaller municipal councils. With a population of 20,748,395, it's among the world's most populous metropolitan area.
Thane scores more than Mumbai because of Octroi
Thane has more vehicle registrations, because earlier, buyers in Mumbai had to pay the Octroi tax, which scaled up the costs. Since there's a uniform road tax and insurance across MMR now, people want Mumbai-registered cars.
Reasons: Poor public transport, income rise, dip in car prices
The astonishing rise in vehicles in Mumbai is because of a poor public transport system, which includes bus, train, metro, autos and cabs. Moreover, people's per capita income has increased; hence they aspire to buy their own vehicles, said RTO officials. The dip in car prices and the easy availability of vehicle loans are the other major drivers behind this situation.
