Sluggish demand "due to demonetisation" has hit the plan to phase out non-BS-IV emission compliant vehicles by April, a major automobile manufacturers' body today claimed inviting EPCA's ire which said the industry is "holding Delhi to ransom".
The argument, made by Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), came on a day the Supreme Court- appointed EPCA reiterated that BS-III compliant vehicles, even those seeking national permit, will not be registered in the National Capital Region from April 1.
EPCA's reiteration of its last year's order invited sharp reactions from SIAM which termed it as "unreasonable".
The two sides argued over the direction at a meeting convened by the EPCA here. However, EPCA asserted there will be no relaxation in its order.
A SIAM representative claimed, going by the current market demand, there will be around 20,000 passenger vehicles, 7,50,000 two-wheelers, 45,000 three-wheelers and 75,000 commercial vehicles like trucks in April that do no meet BS-IV emission norms.
"Market forces are beyond our control. Demonetisation has also hurt us badly. EPCA is being unreasonable considering we were told about the plan only last October. It is a complex thing and we need time," K K Gandhi of SIAM said.
CSE chief Sunita Narain, a member of EPCA, said no relaxation will be allowed in this regard in NCR. However, whether or not these vehicles can be registered outside NCR will be explored, EPCA said.
"They (the industry) is holding Delhi to ransom," Narain said, rejecting SIAM's submission that the IIT-Kanpur report had shown that diesel vehicles were responsible for "merely two per cent of Delhi's pollution".
However, the same report had also pointed out that vehicles contribute to around 20 per cent of air pollution in Delhi, among the world's most polluted cities.
EPCA Chairman Bhure Lal sought "month-wise data of productions and sales registered by the industry body between April and December last year" to gauge the situation.
BS-IV fuel contain 50 parts per million (ppm) Sulphur.
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