No brakes on vehicle sales, 8K added to Kolkata fleet in March
Times of India | 8 April 2025
12 Kolkata: The city's vehicle boom showed no signs of slowing down in March, with a record 8,188 new additions to its already massive fleet this year. Fuelled primarily by the growing demand for personalised vehicles, the surge highlighted the continuing trend of increased automobile ownership.
Out of the city's four RTOs, Pubic Vehicles Department (PVD) — the Beltala RTO of core Kolkata — registered 3,406 vehicles, marking the highest-ever March registration, followed by Salt Lake, which recorded an addition of 2,043 vehicles.
Behala and Kasba added 1,067 and 1,672 vehicles, respectively, as revealed by transport department data.
In March 2024, PVD (Beltala) had recorded 3,209 registrations while in March 2023, it had recorded 2,928 registrations. This consistent increase underscored the growing demand for vehicles in the PVD jurisdiction over the past three years.
The Salt Lake RTO experienced fluctuations during this period. Registrations decreased from 1,883 in March 2023 to 1,713 in 2024, before rising to 2,043 in 2025.
This rebound suggests a renewed interest in vehicle ownership in the Salt Lake area. Conversely, the Kasba RTO saw a steady decline in registrations, from 1,794 in March 2023 to 1,722 in 2024, and further down to 1,672 in 2025. This downward trend indicates a decreasing demand for new vehicles in the Kasba region over the past three years. In contrast, the Behala RTO showed a positive trajectory with registrations increasing from 757 in March 2023 to 882 in 2024 and reaching 1,067 in 2025. This consistent growth reflects a rising interest in vehicle ownership in the Behala area, said a transport department officer. This rise in vehicle registration is driven by personalised vehicles like two-wheelers and four-wheelers.
"The weakening of public transport like buses and trams continues to play havoc with the city's mobility, forcing citizens to opt for personalised vehicles. This is a dangerous trend for any city. We are heading for a Bengaluru-type situation where the city gets perpetually stuck in traffic snarls," said Dipankar Sinha, an urban planning expert and former DG of town planning with KMC.
The overall rise in vehicle ownership across all RTOs underscores the increasing dependence on personal transport, potentially exacerbating Kolkata's traffic woes. The data suggests the overall upward trend in vehicle registrations points to a city shifting away from public transport in favour of private mobility, raising concerns about urban congestion and sustainability, said a transport officer.