The region of Piedmont had blamed pressure from the European Union for its plans to introduce a daytime, weekday ban on so-called Euro 5 standard vehicles in Turin and more than 70 other municipalities starting on September 15.
But environment and energy minister Gilberto Pichetto Fratin revealed this would be pushed back to October 1, 2024 and the number of affected areas reduced.
"The government has intervened... to avoid a social and economic crisis for families and businesses," he said, while insisting EU commitments on cutting pollution would be met.
Piedmont's regional president, Alberto Cirio, said the region had been "forced" into the ban by a European infringement procedure.
He said the central government decree now allowed them to re-evaluate measures already taken to cut pollution, including boosting energy efficiency and scrapping 700 polluting buses.
Further action would be taken to increase the use of public transport and replace the most polluting heating systems, Cirio said, insisting the region remained "fully focused on the protection of the environment and health".
The European Court of Justice ruled in 2020 that Italy had "persistently and systematically" breached EU rules on small-particle air pollution.
Since then, Meloni's nationalist government has led the revolt against EU plans to tighten emissions limits, vowing to defend the automotive industry in a country still attached to the combustion engine.
Her hard-right coalition, which came into office last October, tried and failed to block EU plans to ban the sale of new cars running on fossil fuels by 2035.
But in May the government took the fight to planned "Euro 7" standards on pollutants, joining with seven other EU member states -- including France and Poland -- to demand Brussels scrap limits due to come into force in July 2025.
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