Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 5
By Khalid Kazimov – Trend:
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has announced the government plans to launch a scheme on the commercial vehicle scrappage in a bid to deal with air pollution.
“The scheme is a large step by the government in order to improve the environment,” Rouhani told a meeting in Tehran discussing the need for renewing the road transportation system.
Under the scheme, the owners of commercial vehicles will pay 50 percent of the value of the new vehicle.
According to the media reports, the Iranian president hopes that the new scheme will contribute to the industry as well.
In the meantime, the minister of industry, Mohammad Shariatmadari, said that the scheme will be supported through credits with payback period of eight years.
The oil ministry is also projected to contribute to the scheme through financing a part of the ambitious project.
The scheme has envisaged renewing more than 200,000 aged vehicles.
Heavy air pollution shrouded capital Tehran’s sky alongside with several other large cities over the past months, shutting down schools in the megacity for a couple of days.
The air quality index of Tehran in some days hit 178, far beyond the acceptable threshold of 50.