New Delhi/Mumbai, June 5 -- A fresh advisory by New Delhi's air quality monitoring body has reignited the debate over whether hybrid vehicles can be included in the category of 'clean vehicles'. The Commission for Air Quality Management in the National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas (CAQM) in a 3 June advisory directed commercial fleet operators to not induct conventional petrol or diesel vehicles and prefer 'clean' automobiles instead, much to the chagrin of the electric vehicle lobby for not clearly defining clean vehicles. "No conventional ICE (internal combustion engine) vehicles running purely on diesel or petrol shall be further inducted in the existing fleet of 4-Wheeler LCVs (light commercial vehicles), 4-Wheeler LGVs (light goods vehicles; N1 category up to 3 5 Ton) and 2-Wheelers with effect from 01.01.2026," CAQM said in its advisory to vehicle aggregators, delivery service providers, and e-commerce entities. While it did not define 'clean vehicles' this time, CAQM in a 2 May advisory defined these as battery electric vehicles, hybrid vehicles, and those running on compressed natural gas (CNG). The ambiguity in the latest advisory has opened the door to promoting hybrid vehicles in the national capital, which faces some of the highest pollution levels in the country. EV makers led by domestic uto majors have been lobbying to not give hybrid vehicles-which use combustion engine and an electric motor for propulsion-a policy status on par with battery electric vehicles (BEVs). Doing so could risk their investments in developing electric cars, they said. A rival lobby is promoting adoption of hybrid cars as these provide a more practical alternative to combustion engine vehicles. The two lobby groups are now reading between the lines of policy documents. Following CAQM's 2 May advisory, Tata Motors Ltd, Hyundai Motor India, and Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd rushed to the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Niti Aayog against the mention of hybrid vehicles as a clean technology along with EVs. The air quality monitoring body believes hybrid vehicles can help in urgently addressing the pollution crisis in Delhi. "Strong Hybrid Electric Vehicles (SHEV) offer substantial improvements in fuel efficiency and emission reduction as compared to conventional diesel/petrol vehicles," CAQM said in its 2 May advisory urging state and central government departments in the Delhi-NCR to procure only clean vehicles. The national capital region became a point of contention in the pure electric vehicle versus hybrid vehicle debate when the Delhi government on 22 April issued a draft policy proposing to grant hybrid cars the same benefits as fully electric cars. The Delhi Electric Vehicles Policy 2.0 has proposed waiving road tax and registration fees on battery electric cars (BEVs), strong hybrid EVs (SHEVs), and plug-in hybrid EV (PHEV) priced up to Rs.20 lakh ex-showroom. This translates into savings of about Rs.2 lakh on a car with an ex-factory price of Rs.20 lakh. CAQM released its draft guidelines 10 days later. "Inclusion of hybrid vehicles in incentives and putting it on the same pedestal as electric vehicles will discourage investments into EVs," an executive at one of the top domestic automakers said, declining to be identified. Currently, only Maruti Suzuki, the country's largest carmaker, has a portfolio comprising ICE, hybrid and pure electric vehicles....