The Transport Ministry on Saturday said that the reports of tests conducted by the Automotive Research Association of India have not specified any evidence to prove that Volkswagen cars flouted Indian emission norms, The Times of India reported.
Last week, heavy industries and public enterprises minister Anant Geete had forwarded the ARAI reports to the ministry and recommended that necessary action be taken. He had said that the German car manufacturer had accepted having flouted emission norms.
However, transport minister Nitin Gadkari said his ministry will not act in haste. Following a review meeting on the subject between ministry officials and VW representatives, he said, "As of now, nothing on record suggests the manufacturer violated our emission norms. We will follow a transparent system of assessment before taking any action."
The automotive giant has been shrouded in a pollution-related scandal that had initially centred on defeat devices, which is software fitted into diesel engines to tamper with the results of tests for nitrogen oxide emissions. The carmaker had confirmed that as many as 11 million diesel engines worldwide had been fitted with this rogue software, following which regulatory and criminal investigations were opened in a number of countries.
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