The government has decided to stand by its decision of pushing forwards the date of implementation of Bharat Stage VI (BS-VI) emission norms to 2020 despite the concerns portrayed by the automotive industry.
Yesterday saw the heads of 26 auto companies meet with the Road Transport and Highways Minister, Nitin Gadkari, to thrash out the details of how this huge jump in emissions norms would have to be made. According to the industry heads, the norms would first have to be enforced on new models that are to be launched by 2020 and existing models would be required to follow suit, immediately after.
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Speaking on this matter, the President of the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers and MD of Ashok Leyland, Vinod Dasari commented on how this proposed shift, if successfully implemented, would be the first of its kind that the world would ever have seen. The shift from BS-IV to BS-V itself takes 5 years whereas the subsequent shift to BS-VI takes another 6 years. This means that by skipping BS-V and going straight to BS-VI by 2020, India will not only be the first country to skip an entire stage, but will also have introduced technology that requires 11 years to evolve, in just 4 years.
Dasari said, "If there is a regulation, that comes tomorrow and says, we need to do it, the industry will try its best to do it. Whether we will be successful or not, we can't say today. Let me also say- European and American technologies simply cannot be applied in India. It's not that simple. Indian driving conditions are different."
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Live Mint reports that the main reason that the minister gave behind bringing such hardship to the industry was that last year, India exported 2.5 lakh cars of which 1 lakh units complied with BS-VI norms. Gadkari asked, "If they can export such cars, why can't they make for India?"
However, despite the steep ask, the auto industry has stated that it will do its utmost to successfully bring the technology to India by 2020 but only if the government gave them some guarantees and fulfilled a few critical conditions. To create better demand for BS-VI, the government has been asked to scrap BS-I, II, and III cars. More importantly, the government has also been asked to give assurances that BS-VI type fuel would be available in all parts of the country by 2020 as opposed to a staggered approach as has been the case with BS-IV. Engines that operate on BS-VI type fuel, cannot run on any other fuel and hence this assurance it vital for the the technology to survive in India. Currently, not all parts of India have BS-IV as standard with the entire country set to be covered only by April, 2017.
Also Read: Skipping BS-V Fuel Norms Poses Safety Risks: SIAM
Pawan Goenka, Executive Director of M&M stated, "My guess is investments required will be Rs.50-Rs.100 crore for each model to upgrade to BS- VI norms." The change to BS-VI is reported to cost the entire industry and its supporting industries, anywhere between Rs 70,000 crore - Rs 90,000 crore.
Besides the hardships that will have to be endured by the industry during the graduation to BS-VI, the Supreme Court also banned the sale of diesel cars with engines above 2,000cc in the National Capital. Mahindra, Tata, Mercedes-Benz and Toyota were the worst hit by this ruling and even appealed to the apex court but to no effect. Although the auto industry has argues that less than 20 per cent of the pollution is caused by cars, Gadkari has stuck by his decisions stating that there is huge public pressure to improve air quality and that pollution needs to be cut down, no matter how big or small the source. "Neither will we put pressure on anyone nor will we come under anyone's pressure. Those who fail to comply will face the music," he said.
