Indian state studies plan to ban petrol, diesel vehicles in Mumbai to control pollution

The western Indian state of Maharashtra has formed a panel to study a proposal to ban petrol and diesel vehicles in Mumbai city amid worsening air quality and only allow electric or gas driven vehicles, it said in an order.

Any ban on petrol, diesel vehicles in the financial capital, if implemented, may not only impact automobile manufacturers, but also citizens and businesses which rely heavily on these vehicles amid inadequate electric vehicle charging infrastructure and still developing metro rail networks.

The city, home to the country's stock exchanges and offices of several global banks and multinationals, has seen air quality worsen since the pandemic amid growing traffic congestion and several ongoing infrastructure and construction projects.

Maharashtra's government said it has formed a seven-member committee to study the proposal of banning petrol and diesel vehicles and only allowing electric and compressed natural gas vehicles in the Mumbai metropolitan region following a court directive. The government order is dated Jan. 22 but gained public attention on Tuesday after Indian media extensively reported it.

Earlier in January the Bombay High Court in its own public interest litigation directed the Maharashtra state government to constitute a committee of experts to study and see if it is feasible to phase out petrol-diesel driven vehicles.

"The vehicular emission is one of the main sources of air pollution. The roads in Mumbai metropolitan region are chocked with vehicles and density of the vehicles on the roads is alarming," the court said in an order on Jan. 9.

Air quality in Mumbai has incrementally worsened since 2020, showing 12% increase in air quality index according to open-source air quality monitoring platform AQI that shows real time air quality data on its website.

India has some of the world's most polluted cities including its capital New Delhi, which often see its air quality index plummet to unhealthy levels during winter.

The committee will submit the results of its study in three months, the state said.

The state is also considering a policy, which will make it compulsory for car and bike owners in the state to have certified parking area, in absence of which new vehicle registration could be rejected, Indian news media reported earlier this month, quoting the state transport commissioner Vivek Bhimanwar.