India, Aug. 5 -- The Supreme Court has expressed concern over the large number of uninsured vehicles on Indian roads and asked the Centre to launch a pilot project based on a "no insurance, no fuel" policy.

A bench comprising Justices Sanjay Karol and Augustine George Masih noted that around 56 per cent of vehicles in India are running without valid insurance cover.

Citing a parliamentary committee report, the court said that 16.54 crore vehicles out of nearly 30 crore registered vehicles do not have insurance coverage.

Third-party insurance period extended

The top court also extended the mandatory third-party motor insurance period for newly purchased vehicles.

Earlier, following a 2018 Supreme Court order, new cars were required to...