India’s Supreme Court has banned new luxury diesel vehicles in Delhi and doubled a recently imposed “green tax” on trucks coming into the city — the latest in a series of tough measures to curb pollution.
The ban on the registration of new diesel vehicles with engines of two litres or more will initially be in force only until March 31. But it is a warning sign to India’s car industry of the growing backlash against diesels — especially larger, heavy sport utility vehicles popular among the wealthy.
According to the Society of Indian Automotive Manufactures, 37 per cent of all passenger cars sold in India during the financial year to March 2015 were diesel variants, and the share of diesels in total car sales has been rising in recent months.