In this port city in Gujarat's Bhavnagar District, the government is weighing a proposal to dismantle and recycle end-of-life vehicles.

Following a presentation made to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to draft a scrapping policy, an inter-ministerial panel examining the possibility of junking vehicles at Alang has finalized its report.

The policy managers of the government feel that the plan would optimize the recycling capacity of Alang and help use the cheap scrap steel collected as an input for the manufacturing industry, the sources said.

The move comes as steelmakers are looking to join the scrap recycling market, such as Tata Steel and the Liberty Group. In Rohtak, Haryana, Tata Steel has already set up a recycling facility.

The Ship Recycling Industries Association (SRIA) has endorsed the proposal as this will double the production of steel scrap from the current 2 million LDT to 5 million light displacement tonnage (LDT).

The tonnage of light displacement refers to the weight of the hull, machinery, equipment and spares of a ship and forms the basis on which ships are traditionally sold for scrap. Compared to the current eight hours, the extra scrap will allow the steel re-rolling mills in Bhavnagar to run for 12-24 hours.

In April 2019, the Central Pollution Control Board released recommendations for environmentally sustainable management of end-of-life vehicles for processing, dismantling and shredding.

Maritime Business World