Mar 31, 2017: Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari has said the government will look at a legal solution to help the automakers impacted by the Supreme Court’s ban on sale of BS-III vehicles from Saturday.
Speaking to reporters in Mumbai yesterday, Mr. Gadkari said the government respects the court’s verdict and while implementing the order, it will see if some legal recourse can be taken.
He acknowledged that his ministry had earlier granted permission to the automakers to sell inventories before migrating to the stricter emission control BS-IV regime.
Asserting that the government is sensitive to environmental concerns, Mr. Gadkari said that Rs 4.5 lakh crore auto industry which employs 50 lakh people should not be neglected either.
The minister said the Petroleum Ministry has committed to supplying BS-IV compliant fuels before April 1 and added that the automakers have also assured to come out with vehicles which will be compliant with the norms.
The apex court had on Wednesday banned sale and registration of vehicles with the older BS-III emission norms from April 1. The order came as a blow to auto firms saddled with a stock of over 8.2 lakh vehicles valued up to an estimated Rs 20,000 crore.
