IN THE recent past, there has been increasing opposition to the use of diesel as a fuel and the so-called dieselisation of our vehicles. This opposition is ill-informed. In fact, there is a clear case for greater dieselisation of our fleet along the lines of the European Union. The only real issue with diesel today is the inability of the government to charge a higher price for diesel fuel which would be closer to its economic cost. However, that is no reason to condemn diesel as a vehicle fuel. If diesel was so bad for vehicles, then why would the EU sell more diesel personal vehicles than petrol powered ones? Clearly, the EU is as concerned as India about the negatives of diesel. Why is it that 4 of the top ten models sold in the world are diesel-powered? Why did diesel personal vehicle sales increase over 80% since 2000 in the US? Why are diesel vehicles forecast to make strong inroads into traditional petrol markets like the US and Japan