The Indian Supreme Court on Wednesday banned the registration of all diesel SUVs and luxury cars with engine capacity of 2000cc or more in the NCT and NCR till March 31, in an attempt to clean up the world's worst polluted city. The picture is the capital of India, and the capital of NCT, New Delhi./ Photographed by Ha Man-joo.

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By Ha Man-joo, India correspondent, AsiaToday - The Indian Supreme Court on Wednesday banned the registration of diesel cars and SUVs above 2000cc in the national capital till March 31, in an attempt to tackle the world's worst pollution.

The top court also ruled that all trucks not bound for Delhi will not be allowed to enter the capital through National Highways 1 and  besides halting the entry of trucks made before 2005 into the city.

The court also doubled the environmental compensatory cess (ECC) on commercial trucks. The ECC is Rs 2,800 (KRW 50,000) for large trucks, and Rs 1,400 (KRW 25,000) for small commercial vehicles.

The court also ordered all city taxis to run on compressed natural gas (CNG) from April 1 next year. The taxis include smartphone-based taxis, such as Ola and Uber. However, small diesel vehicles will be allowed to run as usual.

Consequently, diesel-focused car companies including Toyota, Mahindra, Mercedez Benz, BMW, and Audi are expected to suffer greatly. The ban will be applied to Toyota's Fortuner and Innova, and Mahindra's XUV500, Scorpio, Thar, and Xylo. German carmakers have several diesel vehicles and are expected to decrease in revenues significantly.

In the case of Hyundai Motor India, Santa Fe is known to be included in the ban list, however, the company said the vehicle will not be applied since its engine displacement is 1,997cc.