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The National Green Tribunal (NGT) directed on Tuesday that entry be barred to Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) for all diesel vehicles more than 10 years old.
It is estimated that at least 400,000 registered vehicles in Delhi and NCR ply on diesel. Authentic data isn't available. A 2007 study by the Centre for Atmospheric Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi, noted there are a total of 51,38,711 registered vehicles till May 1, 2007, in this city. Of these, 57,597 were diesel ones - cars, taxis, buses, tempos, trucks, tractors and trailors included. The study had cited the city transport department as the data source.
Industry experts, however, said the number of diesel-run vehicles would be much more.
Last year, NGT had barred cars more than 15 years old from plying on Delhi roads. Both orders together would impact the used car market.
According to industry estimates, there are 500,000 to 700,000 light vehicles aged over 15 years plying on Delhi roads.
The automobile industry has been lobbying with the government for a scrappage incentive scheme to induce owners of older vehicles to give up their cars. Nearly five million vehicles were sold in 2000 in India (excluding tractors) according to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers. In 2014-15, a total of 18.4 million vehicles were sold in the domestic market, including 2.5 mn passenger vehicles and 14.8 mn two-wheelers.
The used car market is bigger than the new car market, according to estimates. At present, the ratio of sales of used cars to new cars is 1.2:1 and is expected to rise to 1.5:1 in the next few years.
