The Supreme Court (SC) today proposed a roll out of Bharat Stage-VI (BS-VI) fuel across 13 metros by April 1, 2019.
The top court directed the central government to consult the Oil Marketing Companies(OMCs) and get their reply on this proposal.
Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan had earlier said: "We plan to launch BS-VI compliant fuel by April 2020".
Earlier the apex court had slapped a ban on all BS-III vehicles, which came as a big blow to the automobile companies, as they were sitting on an inventory worth Rs. 12,000 crore. March 31, 2018, had been set as the deadline to take all these vehicles off the roads.
With pollution in Delhi reaching alarming levels, the Petroleum Ministry had earlier decided to prepone the introduction of BS-VI grade auto fuels in the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi from April 1, 2018, instead of April 1, 2020.
The measure is expected to help mitigate the problem of air pollution in NCT of Delhi and surrounding areas by reducing vehicular emissions and improving fuel efficiency.
"The decision to leapfrog directly from BS-IV to BS-VI is also in line with the Prime Minister's commitment at @COP21 to voluntarily cut our carbon emissions," said the minister.