[Aditya]

Chandigarh, the joint capital of the states of Punjab and Haryana, has topped the list of cities with the most number of vehicles per head in India. The number of vehicles in the city has shot up from 940 in 1967 to about 10.5 lakh in 2014.

Chandigarh has a population of around 12 lakh residents and more than 10 lakh registered vehicles. These include about 5 lakh four-wheelers and more than five lakh two-wheelers. Every year sees an addition of more than 45,000 registered vehicles in the city. The numbers for the past three years stand at 45,113 (2013), 51,259 (2012) and 50,460 (2011). This high number of registrations in the city is attributed to the purchasing power of the city's people. Additionally, till last year, the charges for registration of vehicles in the city were lower compared to Punjab and Haryana. This made registering the vehicles in Chandigarh more attractive to people.

Apart from this, the transfer fee in Chandigarh is low compared to other places. So people looking to have their vehicles transferred to the city do not find it too expensive.

A Chandigarh registration number is perceived to have higher brand value as well. People living in other cities purchase a flat or house in the Chandigarh and get their cars registered there. The police in Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab are said to generally leave Chandigarh registered cars alone as they are perceived to have all the necessary documents.

VIP numbers are also in high demand in the city. These numbers are sold at auctions at high prices - there are instances of customers paying Rs. 7 lakh for a '0001' number for their vehicles!

Source: Indian Express

[ad3952n]

Originally Posted by Aditya

Chandigarh, the joint capital of the states of Punjab and Haryana, has topped the list of cities with the most number of vehicles per head in India. The number of vehicles in the city has shot up from 940 in 1967 to about 10.5 lakh in 2014.

The police in Delhi, Haryana Himachal Pradesh and Punjab are said to generally leave Chandigarh registered cars alone as they are perceived to have all the necessary documents.

VIP numbers are also in high demand in the city. These numbers are sold at auctions at high prices - there are instances of customers paying Rs. 7 lakh for a '0001' number for their vehicles!

Aditya, I believe Chandigarh has a lot of income coming from agricultural activity and I believe after Kerala, Kochi and Chennai it is Chandigarh from where maximum people go to foreign countries for earning. This creates a good amount of income and people find it easy to buy cars with it. However, the notion that Chandigarh registered cars will have all valid papers is to be erased since mistakes can occur with any state's car.

As far as the VIP number is concerned, you are very right because the people in Chandigarh and Punjab after Maharashtra have good links in political setup and Army setup, plus, with surplus income to spend on lavish registration numbers they can surely afford it which leads to rise in demand.

Thanks

[i74js]

No wonder the city is crowded now. It seems that the city will soon replicate what we are right now witnessing in the cities like Bangaluru and Pune.

The UT administration must come out with better infrastructure facilities essentially around public transportation system. Several of the studies have suggested that public infrastructure should have clear priorities for mass transport (all class) and elite class. When you can see the infrastructure earmarked for business class in airlines (with lounge access, better seat pitch and size and even food), in railways (you have reserved, III tier AC, II Tier AC and First Class) – why can’t we have similar arrangements in public transport system.

With economic growth, the buying power of middle class has also gone up and the new segments have now been reported in various evaluations like lower middle and upper middle class etc. The mass registration for 2 and 4 wheelers is consumed between this so called lower and upper middle class which needs to be addressed through public transportation system wherein a passenger would want to be sure of

- When is my bus arriving (you can see it in developed countries)
- How much time it will take to reach to the destination (Metro railway system has now made it possible although Mumbai locals have historically worked around such calculations and time estimates)
- Why I have to stand under the sun? (most of the western countries do not observe tropical climate, it should be made possible through setting up of conditioned sheds and the tickets should be made available at the bus stops itself (you can do it in western countries, we just need to extend the treatment beyond availability of tickets to courtesy seating space in the shed and in the bus) – Tariff readjustments are the only way and this can also help in establishing cross subsidy for cheaper non-AC transportation facilities.

Cheers !

[akshay4587]

I have no doubt on this report.
people do not have permanent roof's over their heads;but when it comes to 4 wheelers;they have swanky one's for sure.
Real estate boom in Punjab and Haryana is one Major reason for this.

[shobhit.shri]

What about other cities? I checked the linked article but it doesn't have any information about comparison with other cities.

It would be interesting to see the relative ranking of major metros. I am pretty sure a lot of smaller cities would also have pretty high vehicles per capita count.

[sinharishi]

What does this mean?

Chandigarh has the most number of cars "per head" or it has the most number of cars as compared to any other city in India?

Originally Posted by shobhit.shri

What about other cities?

IIRC, the total number of vehicles registered in Delhi was 74.53 lakhs in 2011-12. The numbers might be more in 2014.

[desdemona]

This is a misleading statistic since Chandigarh is a city unlike any other: it is a city BY DESIGN of, by and for the wealthy whether their wealth derives from land, agriculture, politics and administration (corruption), or remittances/NRI investments.

The really notable, and disturbing, statistic is about Delhi NCR: less than 20% of people have their own vehicles here, and yet it has more cars than the next five big cities PUT TOGETHER! And untold numbers to 2-wheelers.

[jeepster_chd]

Originally Posted by Aditya

VIP numbers are also in high demand in the city. These numbers are sold at auctions at high prices - there are instances of customers paying Rs. 7 lakh for a '0001' number for their vehicles! Source: Indian Express

In an auction for VIP numbers last year, I remember, 0001 was bought by a farmer for 27 lac for his new S class. The bid went so high because there was another guy competing for the number for his Phantom. But he didn't go beyond 25 lac bid, and the farmer thus won the bid for whooping 27 lac

This was the front page news in Chandigarh Tribune at that time.

[S@ndy]

Yup! You're right. Chandigarh has a real number of super-elite and rich people, mainly the big farmers and landlords. Property and real estate are on a rise here. And the progress of Chandigarh has affected the nearby cities, Mohali as well as Panchkula. But the main income here is from farming, and farmers own very big farms, plus they're also assisted by the state government by many incentives like free electricity (or maybe subsidised, but much less than general public) and no or almost negligible income tax and real estate, plus others.

But, the fancy of VIP numbers here is seriously unmatched! A 10-lakh rupee Scorpio has a fancy number just worth the car's price. Numbers from one to ten are highly expensive. Numbers of older series are even more expensive (top at around 15 big ones!). These also include some special numbers like 0786 or numbers with maximum zeroes. Road tax in Chandigarh, I think, is lower than Punjab, not sure about Haryana.

IIRC, In a bid, a farmer from Muktsar, residing in Chandigarh, paid 11 lakhs for the number, 0007 for his Scorpio! This was around 3-4 years before. Talk about fancy with numbers, huh?

Keep revvin'
S@ndy

[aniketi]

Wow. This is great. All credit mainly goes to Public transport facility i guess. Bad public transport or non existence of it are the main factors for high number of vehicles in the city. Pune also has this issue. PT is so bad that you need your own vehicle only for the travel. I guess Pune has crossed 30-35 Lacs mark in terms of total number of vehicles. Pune has highest number of 2 wheelers in India & Asia i guess.

[mobius 1]

I live in a rented accomodation in Chandigarh.

My landlord has 3 family members and 4 cars to cater to them !
No wonder the results of this report

[fine69]

Originally Posted by desdemona

The really notable, and disturbing, statistic is about Delhi NCR: less than 20% of people have their own vehicles here, and yet it has more cars than the next five big cities PUT TOGETHER!

How did you arrive at this conclusion, may I ask for the source of data please?

I think Bengaluru & Chennai coupled together would cross Delhi's figure. If not then by adding Hyd figure it sure would.

[desdemona]

Shocking stat, is it not, for us Dilli-wallas? It shouldn't be since the data is actually quite widely available, my own source is the CSE (Centre for Science and Environment), the premier INDEPENDENT environmental public policy research and advocacy group in India, it is Delhi-based. They are famous for publishing 'Down to Earth' magazine. It is available online too, I believe.

[fine69]

Originally Posted by desdemona

Shocking stat, is it not, for us Dilli-wallas? It shouldn't be since the data is actually quite widely available, my own source is the CSE (Centre for Science and Environment), the premier INDEPENDENT environmental public policy research and advocacy group in India, it is Delhi-based. They are famous for publishing 'Down to Earth' magazine. It is available online too, I believe.

I tried searching on the cse website but couldn't find the stats anywhere, pardon my googling skills. I'd appreciate if you can post a link or something that corroborates your claim because until 2012 Bengaluru, Chennai & Hyd were definitely exceeding in the total no. of vehicles (clubbed together) when compared to Delhi.

[desdemona]

I don't do research in this field.

The last I read in Down to Earth, Delhi NCR (which includes Ghaziabad, Gurgaon, Faridabad and Noida) was MUCH more than the other metros combined. Car sales have boomed in all cities (except maybe Bombay) BUT Delhi NCR has boomed even more, and moreover has expanded to include several new satellite towns (e.g., Manesar, Bhiwadi etc).

It is a very well accepted fact in urban public policy circles in Delhi, in the semi-academic/journalistic penumbra of which I dwell. ;-)

The point though, not to be missed, is that Delhi NCR's automobile-centrism is debilitating the city, and especially all those (the majority) pedestrians, cyclists, bus+metro travellers whose time, space and safety is thereby being, if I can put it bluntly, 'robbed'.

Chandigarh's car obsessions do not cause nearly as much collateral social damage as Delhi's, since most people there are richer, there is a decent bus-auto-cyclerickshaw system.