Chandigarh Has Most Vehicles Per Head Than Any Other Indian City

Chandigarh, the joint capital city of Punjab and Haryana has the title of having the highest number of vehicles per person compared to other Indian cities. The city with an estimated population of about 12 lakh, has about 10.5 lakh registered vehicles.

Of the over 10 lakh vehicles, 5 lakh are four wheelers and the remaining are two wheelers. Just about 50 years back, the city had less than a 1000 vehicles.

Every year sees nearly 50,000 new vehicles getting registered. For example, 2013 saw 45,113 vehicles getting registered, 51,259 in 2012 and 50,460 in 2011.

While the primary reason behind the high per head vehicle count is the purchasing power of the people in this region, other factors have also contributed to the large number of vehicles.

These include low vehicle registration charge in the city (until last year), which encourages, people from all over the state to get their vehicles registered here, and a lower transfer fee. Vehicles registered in Chandigarh are also perceived to have higher value for various reasons.

Meanwhile, the high density of vehicles in Chandigarh has given rise to several associated problems such as traffic congestion and increasing road accidents.

To curb the growing vehicles and to encourage people to use avoid using personal transport all the time, the city administration plans introduce Metro and Bus Rapid Transit services. The administration is also considering introducing vehicle free zones in Sector 17, a commercial hub, increasing parking charges and introducing congestion tax.

Source