NEW DELHI: With ‘polluting’ diesel cars becoming a concern leading to a ban on registration of big diesel cars and SUVs in the National Capital Region (NCR) till March 31, the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam) on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that the government’s fuel policy was the major culprit behind pollution.Siam attempted to dispel the impression of the court and amicus curiae Harish Salve that diesel cars emitted much more pollutants than petrol cars by submitting data gathered through studies.However, it said faster implementation of BS-V and BS-VI emission norms would drastically reduce pollution caused by cars. However, it was doubtful of achieving results on the ground if the fuel supplied did not conform to BS-V and BS-VI standards.During the last hearing before a bench headed by Chief Justice T S Thakur, the government had admitted that it would be able to provide BSIV grade petrol and diesel all over India only by April 2017. At present, only north India and 33 select cities get BS-IV fuel supply.Siam said automobile manufacturers were ready to bring in BS-V compliant cars by 2019, one year before the government deadline. However, it said that without matching fuel, curbing pollution caused by cars would not be possible.“Non-availability of BS-V fuel by 2019 is holding the industry back. It is ironical that on the one hand, India has been exporting higher grade BSV/VI fuel to other countries for many years and on the other hand, the same high grade fuel is not made available for domestic use to overcome the serious pollution challenge,” Siam said.“Industry would ideally have liked to see BS-V emission norm being implemented in 2019 -- one year earlier than what is being planned by the government -- which will bring diesel engines almost at par with advanced diesel engines in the US with DPF (diesel particulate filter) devices and start the process of PM 2.5 reduction one year earlier than the government proposed deadline of 2020,” it added.The industry body countered Salve’s charge that diesel cars caused 27 times more pollution than a petrol car citing studies by World Health Organisation (WHO) and International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).Siam said, “WHO and IARC studies pertain to untreated diesel exhaust from old vintage technology diesel engine in closed environment. The exhaust emitted by such an engine was not treated by a catalytic converter or a particulate trap which is used in a modern technology vehicle.”