Bengaluru overtakes Delhi in private vehicle ownership

Bengaluru has now outpaced New Delhi as the Indian city with the highest number of private vehicles, boasting approximately 23 lakh private cars, according to the Delhi Statistical Handbook 2023. In contrast, Delhi, the national capital, has a total of 79.5 lakh vehicles, with 20.7 lakh being private cars, as reported on the same date. The Delhi Statistical Handbook 2023 reveals that in the fiscal year 2020-21, the capital had a total of 1.2 crore registered vehicles, including 33.8 lakh private cars. During this period, the Transport Department in Delhi took measures to deregister and scrap aging vehicles. Between 2021-22 and 2022-23, more than 1 crore cars were deregistered, 1.4 lakh were scrapped, and over 6.2 lakh obtained no-objection certificates for re-registration in other states. This initiative was in response to a Supreme Court ban on diesel and petrol vehicles older than 10 and 15 years, respectively, implemented in Delhi in 2018. In 2022, Bengaluru ranked as the world's second-most congested city, closely following London. Commuters in Bengaluru's city centre spent an average of 29 minutes and 10 seconds covering a distance of 10 kilometres during rush hours. The average speed during peak times was around 18 kilometres per hour, according to data reported by TomTom, a Dutch location technology specialist, in 2023.