As a response to precipitous decline in air quality, the government had initiated the Bharat Stage IV (BS-IV) that were supposed to come into effect across the country from April 2017.
But most players in the automobile sector are now asking the government to relax the deadline.
What are BS norms?
BS emission standards, introduced in 2000, have been set up to regulate the output of air pollutants from internal combustion engine equipment, including motor vehicles.
The different norms are brought into force in accordance with the timeline and standards set up by the Central Pollution Control Board.
The BS norms are based on European regulations.
In 13 major cities, Bharat Stage IV emission standards were put in place in April 2010.
Typically, the higher the stage, the more stringent the norms. The current norms in India are BS IV in 33 cities and BS III in the remaining country.
Implementation of the BS V standard that was earlier scheduled for 2019 has now been skipped.
BS VI, originally proposed to come in by 2024 has been now advanced to 2020, instead.
Why is the shift to BSIV necessary?
The studies suggest that vehicular pollution is one of the key contributors to the high levels of pollution in Indian cities.
A recent study on Delhi’s pollution showed that 28% of the pollution is due to vehicular emissions.
The shift to BS IV will require cleaner fuel quality and improvements in engines and exhausts like fitting the vehicles with diesel particulate filter (DPF), selective catalytic reduction (SCR) etc.
Hence this will reduce the vehicular pollution therby increasing the air quality.
Why the industry’s demand is flawed?
Currently the automobile sector wants a relaxation of the deadline again.
This reflects poorly on the industry’s commitment to improving air quality.
The overall demand for private vehicles is quite rigid in India and, therefore, any increase in cost that affects all producers equally will not significantly impact industry-level sales in the long run.
The vehicular pollution, significantly worsens the health of all Indians therefore cannot be taken lightly on the cost of econoic development.
Also, being at the frontline of global standards, will improve the ability of Indian automobile sector to compete globally.
What is the way forward?
The government should remain firm on auto emission norms deadline
Given the alarming rise in pollution levels, the government might even consider advancing the BS VI deadline from 2020 to an earlier date.
Europe has achieved the result only after facing stiffer timelines.
Also, the industry’s tendency to lobby for delays can be checked if deadlines are staggered.
If the environmental norms are applied in one go , the deadline of BS-IV norms applied to sales of older technology vehicles will make it worthless.
But a staggered deadline will allow companies to gradually shift production to better engines and avoid a situation where producers are stuck with unsold inventory.
