By Enyichukwu Enemanna
With effect from 31 March 2025, older vehicles, particularly those over 15 years old, will no longer be permitted to purchase fuel in the Indian capital, New Delhi, authorities announced on Saturday.
This measure aims to curb pollution in the city, which is ranked among the most polluted in the world and is blanketed in acrid smog each year.
“We have decided to stop giving fuel to vehicles more than 15 years old after 31 March 2025,” New Delhi’s Environment Minister, Manjinder Singh Sirsa, told reporters on Saturday.
He said the decision followed a “marathon meeting” on air pollution to “find out the diseases and their remedies.”
Pollution in the city is attributed to crop burning by nearby farmers to clear their fields for planting, as well as emissions from factories and traffic fumes.
Existing legislation prohibits diesel and petrol cars older than 10 and 15 years, respectively, from operating on Delhi roads, but enforcement has been lax.
The environment minister stated that “gadgets” would be installed at petrol stations from next month to identify such vehicles.
According to the minister, other decisions taken at the “marathon meeting” include transforming barren land into “new forests” and involving university students in tree planting.
He also said the government would mandate high-rise buildings, hotels, and Delhi airport to install anti-smog guns and devices to combat pollution.
