August 22, 2025

A fiery new study by the Center for the Study of Science, Technology, and Policy (CSTEP) has uncovered a shocking truth about India’s trucks. The study, titled ‘Heavy Duty, High Impact: Mitigating Heavy Commercial Vehicle Emissions in India,’ reveals that some heavy commercial vehicles (HCVs), known as "super-emitters," belch out 4 to 11 times more pollution than regular trucks. Can you believe it? These super-emitters make up just 23% of all trucks but are responsible for a whopping 62% of harmful PM2.5 pollution that clouds our air! Brace yourself: by 2035, the number of these heavyweight trucks will zoom up by 27%! The report points out that except in places like Delhi and Puducherry, trucks are the main culprits behind dangerous PM2.5 pollution across most States and Union Territories. Swagata Dey, Policy Specialist at CSTEP and co-author of this eye-opening report, slammed the current system. "Although a major source of vehicular emissions, freight has been ignored all along. We are used to seeing older polluting trucks, but there is no policy instrument to target these super-emitters. We will not be able to clean up our transport system with just new electric vehicles, if these older ones continue to ply on our roads," she said. The report doesn’t stop at bad news. It offers sizzling solutions to cool down this pollution fire! One big idea is to introduce mandatory scrapping of trucks older than 15 years. Imagine slashing pollution by 44% by 2035 just by sending these old polluters off the road! To make this happen, the report urges building scrapping facilities and giving financial perks to buyers of new trucks. Switching to electric vehicles (EVs) or cleaner fuels is another champion move. But it comes with challenges: the high cost of EVs and a missing charging network. The study says nearly ₹100 thousand crore is needed to clean up about 70,000 heavy trucks expected on roads by 2030. Meanwhile, the air pollution story in Delhi has more twists. Shailesh Nayak, director of the National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS) and former Secretary of the Ministry of Earth Sciences, revealed at the India Clean Air Summit (ICAS) 2025 that farmers' stubble burning, often blamed for Delhi’s dreadful air, is not the full villain. "Even if we reduce crop burning to zero, pollution will still persist in Delhi due to other sources," he said plainly. Dr. Nayak highlighted that fully switching light and heavy commercial vehicles to electric in the Delhi NCR region could bring the air quality index to much healthier levels. He also warned against blindly following Western air quality standards. "India cannot blindly apply Western standards, since our baseline itself is already higher than WHO levels. We must remain mindful of our own realities," he said prudently. So, what’s the spicy takeaway? India’s battle against choking pollution needs urgent focus on scrapping ancient trucks, scaling up electric vehicles, and smart policy moves tailored for India. The heavy vehicle menace is clear, but with smart actions, cleaner air is within reach!

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Tags: Heavy commercial vehicles, Pollution, Super-emitters, Air quality, Delhi-ncr, Electric vehicles,