In a bid to curb emissions from the vehicles based on outdated technology, the Central government has proposed to set the registration deadline for BS-IV standard vehicles to June 30, 2020.

While the government had already ordered the implementation of the Bharat Standard-VI compliant cleaner transport fuels across the nation by April 2020 and by April 2018 in Delhi, it has now invited suggestions and objections in a draft notification on the Central Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Rules, 2017.

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“New motor vehicles conforming to Emission Standard Bharat Stage-IV, manufactured before 1st April 2020 shall not be registered after 30th June 2020,” said the notification.

It added that if the new motor vehicles of category M (eight-seater cars) and category N (trucks), conforming to Emission Standard Bharat Stage-IV and manufactured before April 1, 2020 and sold in the form of drive-away chasis, then they will not be registered after September 30, 2020.

At par with its Europen counterpart “Euro-VI”, under the BS-VI standard fuel, petrol and diesel are at the same level of emissions. Apart from this, while BS IV-compliant fuels which are currently being used in the country, has 50 parts per million (ppm) sulphur, BS VI emits a low 10 ppm.

The move is being welcomed by the Supreme Court-appointed Environment Pollution Control Authority (EPCA) that had earlier in April this year recommended to the apex court that only BS-VI emission standards compliant vehicles should be allowed to be sold from April 1, 2020.

“This is a welcoming move as after the Petroleum Ministry (on BS-VI implementation), the Ministry of Road Transport has taken a wise step,” Usman Naseem, a researcher at the Centre for Science and Environment and member of the EPCA, told IANS.

He added that earlier the automobile industries contended its suggestions regarding the introduction of the BS-VI compliant vehicles citing the lack of technology.

“The same auto manufacturers had been making cars in Europe where Euro-VI is compulsory, so their logic failed,” Naseem said.

Currently, only BS-IV compliant vehicles are being registered across the nation, after the Supreme Court ordered that no BS-III vehicles shall be registered after April 1, 2017 onwards.

The move, however, did not come well on the auto industries, except only a hand few, due to a huge stock of BS-III compliant vehicles.

The government had earlier made it clear that India shall shift directly to BS-VI, skipping BS-V.