What seems as another twist in the Bharat Stage IV emission norms deadline, the Supreme Court (SC) has asked the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) to give the details of unsold inventory and date of manufacturing of vehicles. The SC is seeking details of unsold BS III vehicles from automobile manufacturers.

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The SC has directed SIAM to furnish details of BS III vehicles manufactured from December 31, 2015 till date. The apex court said that all types of vehicles including passenger vehicles, two-wheelers, three-wheelers and commercial vehicles to be given by March 24.

This came as one of the leading two-wheeler manufacturer in India, Bajaj Auto moved to the SC seeking to cease the sale of BS III vehicles from April 1. It told the SC that the implementation of BS IV norms was notified by the government in April 2014 and automakers had enough time to shift to cleaner fuel norms.

Also read: Ambiguity over BS-IV norms implementation may hurt pre-sales of automobile firms

SIAM does not seek deferment of BS-IV norms

The government a year earlier had given the deadline of April 1, 2017 for automobile manufacturers for their vehicles to adhere to the BS IV emission norms. While some manufacturers such as Bajaj Auto, Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai and other have converted all their vehicles to adhere to the BS IV norms, there are many others who have not done so completely and have a large inventory of vehicles which are still BS III.

Bajaj Auto has been fiercely against the move to extend the deadline as it has changed all its vehicles to adhere to the BS-IV norms. This has resulted in a rise in costs of its vehicles between Rs 1,000 to Rs 7,000. A reason for Bajaj to voice his disapproval as any extension of the deadline by the government would lead to its competitors with BS-III models benefiting from the price advantage in the market.

Bajaj further suggested if the government chooses to extend the deadline, it should impose a hefty fine on the manufactures.