No new diesel SUVs in Delhi till March 31: apex court

The Supreme Court today formally banned registration of all new diesel SUVs and cars with engine capacity of 2000cc or more in Delhi and the National Capital Region till March 31 next year.

Commercial vehicles, which are not Delhi bound, will not be allowed to enter national capital through entry points NH-8 and NH-1.

SC favours levy of ECC on commercial vehicles criss-crossing Delhi.

India’s top court ordered restrictions on the registrations of certain new diesel-powered vehicles in New Delhi temporarily, as officials try to clean up the foul air in the world’s most polluted city. It has said this way – “Why should a rich man travel in a diesel auto and pollute the environment”. If this was not enough to curb the automotive fleet of the Capital, National Green Tribunal (NGT) further added to their despair by stopping registrations of vehicles with diesel engines from December 11, 2015, to January 6, 2016.

Jagdish Khattar, Former MD, Maruti Udyog Limited, while talking about the ban on #DieselSUVBan, said that the govt should first handle cars that are plying on the road. The sources said it will be unsustainable for the Mercedes Benz dealerships to protect jobs when they are not selling any cars in the Delhi-NCR region.

Mahindra will be hit the most among listed Indian automakers as others largely make cars with an engine capacity of less than 2 liters, said Bharat Gianani, an analyst at Angel Broking Ltd.

Just days prior to the Delhi Government’s order, theDelhi High Courthad remarked that living in the city was akin to living in a gas chamber, and asked both the Central and State Governments to take suitable measures to combat the issue.

All these measures come after Delhi has been experiencing alarming levels of pollution caused by diesel emissions and the burning of crops residue in farms around the city.

Following the Supreme Court’s announcement of the temporary ban, vehicle and utility manufacturer Mahindra & Mahindra’s shares dropped by 5.5 per cent.

India’s courts are pushing authorities to act over Delhi’s filthy air, ranked as the world’s worst in a World Health Organization (WHO) survey previous year of more than 1,600 cities.