India Wants To Outlaw High-End Petrol And Diesel Vehicles

India, the world’s most populous country and one of the key global automotive markets, could make an unusual but strategic move toward faster electrification. The Supreme Court has suggested the government consider a phase-out of luxury models with internal combustion engines, including hybrids and plug-in hybrids. The idea is simple: to speed up the transition to electric vehicles without hitting the masses of customers who can’t afford premium models anyway.

The court argues that electric cars in the upper class already have a strong position. According to Autocar India, the share of electric models on the Indian market in the premium segment reaches about 12 percent, while among mass models it barely exceeds three percent. In other words, luxury car buyers are already accepting electric drives, so a controlled test of the transition to pure mobility could be conducted right there.

Critics, however, warn that the effect of such a ban on overall emissions would be modest, as luxury cars make up only a small part of India’s fleet. A much bigger problem is the hundreds of thousands of old cars and light commercial vehicles that remain in traffic due to the financial condition of customers and weak recycling policies. According to them, solving that issue in the long term would have a significantly greater effect than targeting an expensive but numerically minimal segment.

The court agrees with that part but maintains that the ban on luxury petrol and diesel models would send an important signal to the market. As Judge Surya Kant pointed out, manufacturers already offer electric models that, in terms of comfort and performance, stand on an equal footing with models with an internal combustion engine. And since these are more expensive cars bought by a small and more affluent part of the population, such a ban would be politically and economically the least painful.

For now, the decision is not a concrete policy but a proposal, but the government is taking it seriously. Ministries and state agencies are already analyzing the effects of a possible turnaround, from production incentives to the development of charging infrastructure. A new hearing is scheduled for December, and then the Indian administration could clearly indicate for the first time whether luxury electric vehicles will receive a “compulsory entry” to the market.

• Also See: Suzuki Is Spending $8 Billion To Manufacture Electric Cars In India