India, Jan. 9 -- Nitin Gadkari on Thursday said that close to four lakh vehicles have been scrapped under India's vehicle scrappage policy till December 2025, with the road transport and highways minister dubbing it as a key step towards promoting a circular economy.

Speaking on the policy's progress so far, Gadkari stated approximately 3.94 lakh vehicles have been scrapped so far, of which nearly 1.65 lakh vehicles were owned by the government and 2.39 lakh were private vehicles.

Gadkari said the programme has already attracted private sector investments worth 27 billion rupees. According to the minister, India's imported scrap material amounts to 60 lakh tonnes, from which 3.76 lakh tonnes of scrap steel have been recovered so far, ma...