Court’s order on polluting vehicles welcome

The Supreme Court's ruling that prohibits the sale of vehicles which do not meet Bharat Stage IV fuel and emission norms from April 1, is a welcome step but also a shocking one for the automotive industry. The Indian automotive industry has grown accustomed to constant compromise on safety and efficiency Norma over the past 15 years since the last dramatic Supreme Court judgement in 2001 which mandated Bharat Stage II emission norms. The apex court's observation that life is more important than profit is to be welcomed. There is no doubt that increased vehicular pollution, particularly from commercial vehicles, has contributed immensely towards increased pollution levels. That said, India has been moving towards stricter fuel emission levels for some time and the Government has made it clear that an accelerated move towards Bharat Stage VI by April 1, 2020 has been made public and the industry has been given five years to adapt. The move towards all-India Bharat Stage IV has been public for close to a decade and the automotive industry has been selling such vehicles in India for several years now. Some manufacturers, particularly India's two largest carmakers Maruti-Suzuki and Hyundai switched their entire production to Bharat Stage IV several months ago and have no stock of older vehicles left. It is disappointing that Indian commercial vehicle and two-wheeler manufacturers did not follow suit thus leaving an estimated Rs 12,000 crore of stock on the market.To be fair to the industry, there were depressed sales in the aftermath of November 8, 2016. This did impact two-wheeler and commercial vehicle sales disproportionately as most sales in these markets have a heavy cash component. But instead of using demonetisation as an opportunity to switch production, several manufacturers, who were left holding the can by the Supreme Court, continued making Bharat Stage III vehicles. If these manufacturers expected the court to give another compromise or leave them with a slap on their wrist, they were grossly mistaken. And maybe they should have looked at history, particularly the Bharat Stage II judgement to get an indication.

Indian vehicle manufacturers have been slow off the mark to offer cleaner, greener vehicles to the public at large, often hiding behind cost constraints. The fact remains that it costs less to make vehicles with engines that pollute more and those are also cheaper for customers to purchase. Incentives for electric and hybrid vehicles by the Government have been inadequate. There is little incentive for manufacturers to make and customers to buy electric and hybrid vehicles in India and such vehicles will be a major solution towards reducing vehicular pollution. But for the time being the apex court’s decision is welcome and indicates that the court would be disinclined towards extending the Bharat Stage VI introduction. If there is a small price to pay for getting clean air, so be it.