Ahead of the rollout of Bharat Stage-IV emission standards for vehicles, the Supreme Court has banned the sale and new registrations of BS-III vehicles in the country.
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The move which will come into force from April 1, will effectively take nearly a million vehicles off the road.
Earlier auto manufacturers had approached the court seeking an extension to the March 31st deadline stating that they had unsold stock of about 8 lakh vehicles that do not meet BS IV emission norms including two-wheelers, cars and trucks. In the court, even the central government had backed the auto manufacturers.?
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Announcing the verdict, the apex court said that manufacturers were aware of the deadline and health of public more important than the sale of existing inventory.?
There are an estimated 8,24,275 BS-II vehicles in the country. It includes 96,724 commercial vehicles, 6,71,308 two-wheelers, 40,048 three-wheelers and 16,198 cars.
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Bharat stage emission standards are the emission standard set by the Government of India to normalise the productivity of air pollutants from internal combustion engine equipment.?