From January 1 next year, registration in Delhi will be prohibited for new light goods vehicles (LGVs) running on petrol, diesel or compressed natural gas (CNG) and having a gross weight of up to 3.5 tonnes, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) stated on Wednesday.
Four-wheelers weighing up to 3.5 tonnes are called “N 1 vehicles”.
And non-electric LGVs that have a gross vehicle weight of 3.5-7.5 tonnes (categorised as “N2 vehicles”) will be banned from January 1, 2028.
The CAQM’s order went significantly beyond the Delhi government’s Electric Vehicle Policy, which was notified on June 30.
While Delhi had mandated that only new electric N1 LGVs could be registered from January 1, 2027, it had not imposed an outright ban on non-electric N2 LGVs.
The order will affect major manufacturers of non-electric N1 and N2 commercial vehicles such as Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, Ashok Leyland, Maruti Suzuki and VE Commercial Vehicles.
Their models running on petrol, diesel and CNG will progressively become ineligible for registration in parts of Delhi-National Capital Region (Delhi-NCR).
However, companies such as Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, Ashok Leyland (through subsidiary Switch Mobility) and VE Commercial Vehicles have electric vehicles in the N1 space. Electric LGV startups such as Euler Motors also hold a sizeable share in the N1 market.
The CAQM said nine registered vehicle makers currently offered 20 electric N1 models, providing sufficient product capacity for the first phase of the restrictions.
It took a more cautious approach towards N2 vehicles because the electric market remains at an early stage.
The CAQM noted 2,744 N2 LGVs were newly registered in Delhi-NCR last year, but not one was electric. It also said four vehicle makers had only six electric N2 models available. This pushed it to give the N2 segment additional time before imposing an electric-only registration mandate.
Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, Ashok Leyland, Maruti Suzuki and VE Commercial Vehicles didn’t respond to Business Standard’s queries.
For N1 vehicles, the restrictions will be rolled out in three geographical stages. New petrol, diesel and CNG vehicles will be barred in the NCR, which comprises Delhi, from January 1, 2027. The ban will extend to five high-vehicle-density (HVD) districts — Gurugram, Faridabad, Sonipat, Ghaziabad and Gautam Buddha Nagar — from July 1, 2027.
From January 1, 2028, new petrol and diesel vehicles will also be banned in the remaining 18 NCR districts — Rewari, Jhajjar, Rohtak, Panipat, Palwal, Nuh, Bhiwani, Charkhi Dadri, Mahendragarh and Jind in Haryana; Meerut, Muzaffarnagar, Hapur, Bulandshahr, Baghpat and Shamli in Uttar Pradesh; and Alwar and Bharatpur in Rajasthan. CNG N1 vehicles will continue to be permitted in these 18 districts.
For N2 vehicles, Delhi will prohibit new diesel, petrol and CNG registrations from January 1, 2028. The same restriction will apply in the five HVD districts from July 1, 2028. In the remaining 18 NCR districts, new diesel and petrol N2 registrations will be prohibited from January 1, 2029, while CNG N2 vehicles will continue to be permitted.
The CAQM said charging infrastructure outside Delhi and the five HVD districts remained at a nascent stage. This is why CNG N1 and N2 vehicles will continue to be permitted in those 18 districts, even as diesel and petrol LGVs face registration bans.
Overall, the CAQM said the bans in the NCR were necessary because LGVs had a disproportionately high impact of emission despite accounting for a small share of the vehicle fleet.
LGVs are extensively used for ecommerce, logistics, courier services, FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) distribution and other urban freight activities, resulting in long distances travelled per vehicle.
“LGVs account for an estimated 5.1 per cent of PM (particulate matter) emissions from the active vehicle fleet in the NCT of Delhi, 2.3 per cent in HVD Districts and 3.1 per cent in the rest of the NCR. Though LGVs constitute only about 1.2 per cent of total active vehicle stock across the NCR, their contribution is approximately 3.3 per cent of the PM emissions,” it mentioned.
The commission said the vehicular sector contributed about 23 per cent of the PM2.5 load during winter and 18 per cent during summer in Delhi-NCR. It said particulate pollution came from several sources, with secondary particulate matter — particles formed through chemical reactions in the atmosphere — being a major contributor.
The CAQM also questioned the long-term role of CNG as a clean fuel for LGVs. While CNG produces substantially lower direct particulate emission than diesel does, the commission said it continued to generate nitrogen oxides (NOx), precursors to secondary PM2.5 formation.
The CAQM said CNG accounted for nearly 70 per cent of new LGV registrations across the NCR in 2025. In Delhi, CNG accounted for about 90 per cent of LGV sales, while diesel retained a substantial share in the HVD districts and the rest of the NCR.
The CAQM cited analysis by the Automotive Research Association of India, showing that a “BS-VI CNG LGV” emitted more than 57 times the PM2.5 emitted by a “BS-VI CNG passenger car”.
BS-VI (Bharat Stage VI) is India’s current vehicle-emission standard. It sets limits on how much pollutant such as NOx, PM, carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons vehicles can emit.
A BS-VI diesel LGV, meanwhile, emits approximately 130 times more PM2.5 than a BS-VI CNG passenger car, according to the commission’s expert committee, constituted in December 2025, recommended shifting N1 and N2 LGVs towards electric vehicles in Delhi and the HVD districts. For the remaining NCR districts, it recommended electric vehicles (EVs) and CNG, taking into account the availability of charging infrastructure and the readiness of the EV ecosystem.
The CAQM said the transition was supported by central schemes including PM E-DRIVE and PARIVARTAN, besides the Delhi EV Policy’s provisions for expanding charging and battery-swapping infrastructure. It said these measures would help support the transition towards cleaner LGVs.
The directions were issued by the CAQM under the Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas Act, 2021.
The CAQM directed the Delhi government and NCR state governments to ensure strict enforcement and give wide publicity to the new registration restrictions.
