End Of The Road For Diesel Vehicles? Niti Aayog Pushes For Adoption Of Cleaner Fuels

Is this the beginning of the end of Diesel vehicles in our country? A Niti Aayog report released on Tuesday advocated gradual removal of Diesel vehicles from the roads while making a gradual shift towards cleaner fuels and technologies like CNG, hybrids and electric vehicles. The report says the ultimate aim is fully shift to zero emission vehicles.

Diesel cars still account for fair share of sales in some popular segments.

The roadmap for net zero pathway also includes tightening of Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency (CAFE) norms and the aim according to the report is to achieve net zero transport emissions by 2070. The report says that fossil fuels still account for energy needs of 80% transport vehicles, a number which needs to come down. It talks about adopting flex fuel vehicles and increased Bio-CNG blending.

Also Read: Zero Emission Drive 2.0: A Real-World Test of Clean Mobility

The report states, “The transition strategy should begin with the phased elimination of polluting diesel vehicles and the adoption of lower-emissions technologies such as CNG, hybrids, and electric vehicles.” Increased adoption of electric vehicles will go a long way in achieving the goals while usage of fossil fuels will need to reduce at the same time.