All India Vehicle Population
The availability of data on Road Transport poses a challenge as there is no easy availability of data for this segment unlike for the Airways and Railways, which are better organized. The data release also takes longer time
Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH) published its Road Transport Year Book (2020-21 & 2021-22) in January 2025. The issue combines the 2020-21 and 2021-22 issues in a single document
The trend captured in the Table below is based on the above publication, hence the latest data available is for year 2021-22
| Year | Two Wheelers in Thousands | Cars Jeeps and Taxis in Thousands | Buses in Thousands | Goods Vehicles in Thousands | Other Vehicles in Thousands | All Vehicles in Thousands | Share Two Wheelers pct | Share Cars Jeeps and Taxis pct | Share Buses pct | Share Goods Vehicles pct | Share Other Vehicles pct | All Vehicles |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021-22 | 263378.0 | 49051.0 | 2142.0 | 15493.0 | 23954.0 | 354018.0 | 74.4 | 13.9 | 0.6 | 4.4 | 6.8 | 100.0 |
| 2020-21 | 249993.0 | 46228.0 | 2118.0 | 14792.0 | 22420.0 | 335551.0 | 74.5 | 13.8 | 0.6 | 4.4 | 6.7 | 100.0 |
| 2019-20 | 243682.0 | 43650.0 | 2196.0 | 14288.0 | 22483.0 | 326299.0 | 74.7 | 13.4 | 0.7 | 4.4 | 6.9 | 100.0 |
| 2018-19 | 221270.0 | 38433.0 | 2049.0 | 13766.0 | 20254.0 | 295772.0 | 74.8 | 13.0 | 0.7 | 4.7 | 6.8 | 100.0 |
| 2017-18 | 202755.0 | 36453.0 | 1943.0 | 12773.0 | 18663.0 | 272587.0 | 74.4 | 13.4 | 0.7 | 4.7 | 6.8 | 100.0 |
| 2016-17 | 187091.0 | 33688.0 | 1864.0 | 12256.0 | 18411.0 | 253311.0 | 73.9 | 13.3 | 0.7 | 4.8 | 7.3 | 100.0 |
| 2015-16 | 168975.0 | 30242.0 | 1757.0 | 10516.0 | 18541.0 | 230031.0 | 73.5 | 13.1 | 0.8 | 4.6 | 8.1 | 100.0 |
| 2014-15 | 154298.0 | 28611.0 | 1971.0 | 9344.0 | 15799.0 | 210023.0 | 73.5 | 13.6 | 0.9 | 4.4 | 7.5 | 100.0 |
| 2013-14 | 139410.0 | 25998.0 | 1887.0 | 8698.0 | 14712.0 | 190704.0 | 73.1 | 13.6 | 1.0 | 4.6 | 7.7 | 100.0 |
| 2012-13 | 127830.0 | 24056.0 | 1814.0 | 8307.0 | 14037.0 | 176044.0 | 72.6 | 13.7 | 1.0 | 4.7 | 8.0 | 100.0 |
| 2011-12 | 115419.0 | 21568.0 | 1677.0 | 7658.0 | 13169.0 | 159491.0 | 72.4 | 13.5 | 1.1 | 4.8 | 8.3 | 100.0 |
| 2010-11 | 101865.0 | 19231.0 | 1604.0 | 7064.0 | 12102.0 | 141866.0 | 71.8 | 13.6 | 1.1 | 5.0 | 8.5 | 100.0 |
| 2009-10 | 91598.0 | 17109.0 | 1527.0 | 6432.0 | 11080.0 | 127746.0 | 71.7 | 13.4 | 1.2 | 5.0 | 8.7 | 100.0 |
| 2008-09 | 82402.0 | 15313.0 | 1486.0 | 6041.0 | 9710.0 | 114951.0 | 71.7 | 13.3 | 1.3 | 5.3 | 8.4 | 100.0 |
| 2007-08 | 75336.0 | 13950.0 | 1427.0 | 5601.0 | 9039.0 | 105353.0 | 71.5 | 13.2 | 1.4 | 5.3 | 8.6 | 100.0 |
| 2006-07 | 69129.0 | 12649.0 | 1350.0 | 5119.0 | 8460.0 | 96707.0 | 71.5 | 13.1 | 1.4 | 5.3 | 8.7 | 100.0 |
| 2005-06 | 64743.0 | 11526.0 | 992.0 | 4436.0 | 7921.0 | 89618.0 | 72.2 | 12.9 | 1.1 | 4.9 | 8.8 | 100.0 |
| 2004-05 | 58799.0 | 10320.0 | 892.0 | 4031.0 | 7457.0 | 81499.0 | 72.1 | 12.7 | 1.1 | 4.9 | 9.1 | 100.0 |
| 2003-04 | 51922.0 | 9451.0 | 768.0 | 3749.0 | 6828.0 | 72718.0 | 71.4 | 13.0 | 1.1 | 5.2 | 9.4 | 100.0 |
| 2002-03 | 47519.0 | 8599.0 | 721.0 | 3492.0 | 6676.0 | 67007.0 | 70.9 | 12.8 | 1.1 | 5.2 | 10.0 | 100.0 |
| 2001-02 | 41581.0 | 7613.0 | 635.0 | 2974.0 | 6121.0 | 58924.0 | 70.6 | 12.9 | 1.1 | 5.0 | 10.4 | 100.0 |
| 2000-01 | 38556.0 | 7058.0 | 634.0 | 2948.0 | 5795.0 | 54991.0 | 70.1 | 12.8 | 1.2 | 5.4 | 10.5 | 100.0 |
| 1999-00 | 34118.0 | 6143.0 | 562.0 | 2715.0 | 5319.0 | 48857.0 | 69.8 | 12.6 | 1.2 | 5.6 | 10.9 | 100.0 |
| 1998-99 | 31328.0 | 5556.0 | 540.0 | 2554.0 | 4897.0 | 44875.0 | 69.8 | 12.4 | 1.2 | 5.7 | 10.9 | 100.0 |
| 1997-98 | 28642.0 | 5138.0 | 538.0 | 2536.0 | 4514.0 | 41368.0 | 69.2 | 12.4 | 1.3 | 6.1 | 10.9 | 100.0 |
| 1996-97 | 25729.0 | 4672.0 | 484.0 | 2343.0 | 4104.0 | 37332.0 | 68.9 | 12.5 | 1.3 | 6.3 | 11.0 | 100.0 |
| 1995-96 | 23252.0 | 4204.0 | 449.0 | 2031.0 | 3850.0 | 33786.0 | 68.8 | 12.4 | 1.3 | 6.0 | 11.4 | 100.0 |
| 1994-95 | 20831.0 | 3841.0 | 423.0 | 1794.0 | 3406.0 | 30295.0 | 68.8 | 12.7 | 1.4 | 5.9 | 11.2 | 100.0 |
| 1993-94 | 18899.0 | 3569.0 | 392.0 | 1691.0 | 3109.0 | 27660.0 | 68.3 | 12.9 | 1.4 | 6.1 | 11.2 | 100.0 |
| 1992-93 | 17060.0 | 3344.0 | 380.0 | 1592.0 | 2970.0 | 25346.0 | 67.3 | 13.2 | 1.5 | 6.3 | 11.7 | 100.0 |
| 1991-92 | 15661.0 | 3205.0 | 358.0 | 1514.0 | 2769.0 | 23507.0 | 66.6 | 13.6 | 1.5 | 6.4 | 11.8 | 100.0 |
| 1990-91 | 14200.0 | 2954.0 | 331.0 | 1356.0 | 2533.0 | 21374.0 | 66.4 | 13.8 | 1.5 | 6.3 | 11.9 | 100.0 |
| 1980-81 | 2618.0 | 1160.0 | 162.0 | 554.0 | 897.0 | 5391.0 | 48.6 | 21.5 | 3.0 | 10.3 | 16.6 | 100.0 |
| 1970-71 | 576.0 | 682.0 | 94.0 | 343.0 | 170.0 | 1865.0 | 30.9 | 36.6 | 5.0 | 18.4 | 9.1 | 100.0 |
| 1960-61 | 88.0 | 310.0 | 57.0 | 168.0 | 42.0 | 665.0 | 13.2 | 46.6 | 8.6 | 25.3 | 6.3 | 100.0 |
| 1950-51 | 27.0 | 159.0 | 34.0 | 82.0 | 4.0 | 306.0 | 8.8 | 52.0 | 11.1 | 26.8 | 1.3 | 100.0 |
If we scroll down the above Table, the total number of registered motor vehicles were just 306 thousand (0.3 million) in March, 1951, comprising 27,000 two-wheelers (8.8% of total), 159,000 Cars Jeeps and Taxis (52%), 34,000 Buses (11.1%), 82,000 Goods Vehicles (26.8%) and 4,000 other vehicles (1.3%)
Notes:
Two wheelers include auto-rickshaws for the year 1959 to 1969. For the remaining years, auto-rickshaws are included in 'Others'
'Other vehicles' include tractors, trailers, three wheelers (passenger vehicles)/LMV and other miscellaneous vehicles which are not classified separately
Buses include Omni buses since 2001
View the trends graphically