Sri Lanka will impose strict vehicle emission standards from January which will hit import of three-wheelers from India.
Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera today said the government will adopt new standards from January which will ban the import of three-wheeler taxis, a popular mode of transport here.
Samaraweera said Sri Lanka will follow the Euro 4 emission standards.
"We are moving towards environmentally-friendly vehicles and we will insist on the new standards for all new imports into the country from the new year," Samaraweera told reporters.
The government last month said that in view of the high number of road mishaps blamed on three wheelers there was a demand to restrict their imports.
Samaraweera said there were 1.5 million three-wheeler taxis in the country and they were a large contributor to environmental pollution.
Finance ministry officials said three wheelers imported from India did not meet Euro 4 emission standards and will not be allowed into the country from January unless they reduced emission levels.
The emission requirement will also apply to several brands of motorcycles and small cars imported mainly from India and China.
Samaraweera's 2018 Budget unveiled yesterday stated that import duties of diesel powered three wheelers would be raised.
(This article has not been edited by Zeebiz editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)
09:18 PM IST