Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Prakash Javadekar has announced that India will shift to Bharat Stage VI (BS-VI) vehicular emission norms by April 2020.

He said that an increase in the penalty for violation of PUC (pollution under control) norms and the implementation of an RFID system at all 13 entry points to the capital are playing a vital role in combating air pollution.

Air pollution is one of the most pressing issues today. According to the UN, nine out of 10 people on the planet are breathing polluted air. This has led to a growing global health crisis, causing about 7 million deaths per year.

Bharat Stage Emission Standards

Bharat Stage Emission Standards were instituted by the Union government to regulate the output of air pollutants from internal combustion engines and spark-ignition engines equipment, including motor vehicles. The standards and the timeline for implementation are set by the Central Pollution Control Board under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.

The standards, based on European regulations, were introduced in 2000. Progressively, stringent norms have been rolled out since then. All new vehicles manufactured after the implementation of the norms have to be compliant with the regulations.

Since October 2010, BS-III norms have been enforced across India. In 13 metros, BS-IV norms have been in place since April 2010 and they have been enforced across the entire country since April 2017. In 2016, the Centre announced that India would skip BS-V norms altogether and adopt BS-VI norms by 2020.

In a recent judgment, the Supreme Court had banned the sale and registration of motor vehicles conforming to the emission standard of BS-IV in the country from April 1, 2020.

On November 15, 2017, the petroleum ministry in consultation with public oil marketing companies decided to bring forward the date of BS-VI grade auto fuels in NCT of Delhi with effect from April 1, 2018, instead of April 1, 2020. In fact, the OMCs were asked to examine the possibility of introducing BS-VI fuels in the whole of NCR from April 1, 2019. This step was taken due to the problem of air pollution faced by Delhi.

Differences between BS-IV and BS-VI

* The major difference in standards between the existing BS-IV and the new BS-VI auto fuel norms is the presence of sulphur.

* The newly introduced fuel is estimated to reduce the amount of sulphur released by 80 per cent, from 50 parts per million to 10 ppm.

* As per analysts, the emission of NOx (nitrogen oxides) from diesel cars is also expected to reduce by nearly 70 per cent and 25 per cent from cars with petrol engines.

Why is it important to upgrade?

* Upgrading to stricter fuel standards helps tackle air pollution. Global automakers are betting big on India as vehicle penetration is still low when compared to developed countries. At the same time, cities such as New Delhi are being listed among those with the poorest air quality in the world. The national capital’s recent odd-even car experiment and judicial activism against the registration of big diesel cars shows that India can no longer afford to relax on this front.

* With other developing countries such as China having already upgraded to the equivalent of Euro V emission norms a while ago, India has been lagging behind. The experience of countries such as China and Malaysia shows that poor air quality can be bad for business. Therefore, these reforms can put India ahead in the race for investments too.