Ban on BS-III not applicable on farm, construction vehicles: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court clarified that the ban on sale and registration of Bharat Stage-III (BS-III ) vehicles is not applicable to equipment used for farming and construction. Tractors, harvesters and construction equipment vehicles have different emission norms and they need not follow the guidelines given to two-wheelers and commercial vehicles. The apex court had on March 29 ruled that vehicles not compliant with BS IV emission standards, cannot be sold after March 31. It was later conveyed to the court that technically and financially it was impractical to convert BS III vehicles to BS IV, also that unsold inventories form miniscule part of 19 crore vehicles are already on Indian roads.