The yellow taxi ambassador, which has been a symbol of the city for decades, has completely disappeared, filling the streets of Kolkata, a metropolitan city in India.
According to AFP on the 17th (local time), the number of ambassador taxis registered in Kolkata, West Bengal, dropped sharply from 7,000 at the beginning of last year to 2,500 at the beginning of this year.
The West Bengal government said 1,000 of the remaining 2,500 Ambassador taxis would be retired within this year and completely disappeared by the end of 2027.
Ambassador is a model produced by Hindustan Motors, India, near Kolkata since 1958 by importing the Oxford model of Morris Motors, UK.
By the 1970s, it had a 75% share of the Indian passenger car market and was called the ‘national car’.
In particular, yellow ambassador became a symbol of the city as it was used as a taxi in Kolkata.
However, as the Indian automobile market opened in 1991, production was eventually halted in 2014 after being pushed back from competition with international automakers.
In the midst of this, the remaining Ambassador taxis also failed to meet Kolkata’s strict emission standards, and following a 2022 court ruling, the West Bengal government decided to completely exit by 2027.
The exit of the Ambassador taxi shows Kolkata, once the largest city in the British Empire after London, but now underdeveloped, AFP said.
Kolkata, formerly called Calcutta, was the capital and first city of the Indian Empire during the British colonial period, but it declined sharply in 1911 when Britain moved its capital to Delhi and Mumbai emerged as a commercial center.
In India, it is considered a city where people say that you have to go to Delhi to gain power, Mumbai to get wealth, and Kolkata to meet your parents.
JULIE KIM
US ASIA JOURNAL
