NewsReaper

Delhi’s fascination for new cars and bikes seems to be growing with each passing day. According to Delhi Statistical Handbook 2011 released by Delhi Government’s department of economics and statistics on Thursday, last fiscal (2010-2011), 4,80,823 new vehicles rolled out on Delhi roads, taking
the total number of vehicles registered in Delhi to a whopping 69.32 lakh.

Simply put, 1,317 new vehicles — cars, two-wheelers and commercial combined — were added to Delhi’s vehicular population every day. According to senior transport department officials, more than 60% (787) of these new vehicles were two-wheelers and 437 were cars.

While the number of vehicles has gone up by about 7.5%, Delhi’s road length continues to be more or less the same. In the last fiscal, 59km of roads have been added to Delhi’s road length. That means, more vehicles jostle for space on Delhi’s limited network of road leading to more traffic snarls.

Delhi’s vehicular population has been increasing at a steady pace for almost a decade now. Senior officials of the economics and statistics department of Delhi government attribute it to the buying capacity of Delhiites, which is also increasing with every passing year.

“The per capita income of Delhiites has also improved in the past few years. After Goa and Chandigarh , Delhi’s per capita income — which has been estimated at R11,6,886 per annum — comes third,” a Delhi government official said.

Though petrol prices have gone up by almost 75% in the past two years, transport department official said it has failed to dampen the spirit of Delhiites.

“The automobile companies too have come up with a number of new models which are more fuel efficient and completely negates the effect of any hike in petrol prices,” said a transport department official. A large number of people have also started buying either CNG-fitted cars or are getting their cars retrofitted with CNG kits.

“The consumption of CNG has gone up by almost 20% in past one year, while there is a marginal increase of just about 2% in the sale of petrol,” an official said. Though diesel consumption has also dropped by almost 20% in past one year, petrol traders attribute it to costlier diesel in Delhi in comparison to neighbouring Haryana.

Source - More two-wheelers take to Delhi roads than cars - Hindustan Times