The Union government on Wednesday approved a ₹9,585-crore scheme to replace around 200,000 BS-IV heavy vehicles, including 191,000 trucks and 16,329 buses, in Delhi-NCR with vehicles operating on cleaner BS-VI emission standards or CNG or battery, to curb air pollution in the region.
“It is estimated that a single pre-BS heavy-duty vehicle emits as much as 14 BS-VI compliant vehicles. Even a BS-IV vehicle emits 2.7 times more than a BS-VI counterpart. The newer fleet is expected to reduce pollution substantially,” the government press release said.
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According to Bharat Stage (BS) emission standards, BS-VI diesel trucks have significantly less pollution.
According to IQAir’s 2025 World Air Quality Report, New Delhi remained the world’s most polluted Capital for the eighth consecutive year, recording an annual average PM2.5 concentration of 82.2 micrograms per cubic metre (ug/m3) which is more than 16 times the World Health Organization’s guideline of 5ug/m3.
