Mahindra Intertrade will set up the the country's first automobile shredding plant in partnership with public sector MSTC, according to company's managind director Sumit Issar. He did not disclose exact investment plans but said the equipment to scrap vehicles alone would cost more than 1 billion rupees ($15 million), apart from land and construction costs. "I see a huge opportunity in India. The idea is to make the first plant successful and then expand pan-India," Issar said, adding the company was open to scrapping ships and machines too. India currently does not have an organised car breaking industry, with most of the dismantling done by independent workshops that do not have the right tools for recycling. As a result, most of the scrap needed by steelmakers and other industries is imported. The planned shredding plant could replace imported scrap and cut India's foreign exchange outflow, the steel ministry said in a statement. Though vehicles are typically licensed to run for only 15 years in India, there are about 30 million vehicles on roads that pre-date 1990. "Even if you take a percentage of that you can imagine the kind of feedstock you can get over a period of time," Issar said.