Bharat Stage VI : India Moves A Step Closer To Green Mobility

Road transport is one of the most important means of transportation for humans all over the world. We, humans, use road transportation in one form or the other – cars, bikes, trucks, buses etc. on a day to day basis no matter where we may reside! A majority of road transportation across various countries all over the world use fossil fuels to power them. Fossil fuels (such as petrol, diesel) when combusted in an internal combustion engine generate heat and produce power to run the vehicle. As a bye product of the heat, the power generated in the engine harmful, polluting gases are emitted from the exhaust of the vehicle. Harmful gases such as hydrocarbons, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, Sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxide is emitted from vehicles. This, in turn, leads to widespread air pollution. In cities, the world over vehicular pollution contributes greatly to the pollution levels going up. To combat this increase in pollution, governments all over the world have a set of emission control standards. These standards are aimed at curbing the ever-increasing rise of air polluting gases emitted from road vehicles. Vehicle manufacturers are mandated to adhere and strictly follow emission control standards set by governments.

  The emission control standards followed in India are known as the Bharat Stage (BS) emission standards. Introduced in India by the Indian government in 2000, these standards are based on European regulations. India is currently using the BS-IV standard emission norms which have been in place since 2010. In 2016, the Indian government decided to skip the BS V norms and directly adopt the BS-VI norms by 1^st April 2020. This is a very important decision as it sets India on a path closer to greener mobility. In a recent judgement the Supreme Court of India has banned the sale and registration of motor vehicles which comply with BS-IV norms from 1^st April 2020. Beginning with the Delhi, NCR (National Capital Region) BS-VI compliant fuel is already being distributed in petrol pumps across the country. The BS-VI emission norms are stricter in comparison to the current BS-IV norms. BS-VI focuses on the reduction of Sulphur and other particulate matter and norms to control them. The current BS IV norms allow for 50 parts per million (ppm) of Sulphur. The new BS-VI norms when enforced will limit the Sulphur emissions to 10 ppm. This will lead to a reduction of 80% particulate matter. Motor vehicles also emit Nitrogen Oxide (NOx) which is very harmful to the environment. As a result of BS-VI norms, NOx will decrease by up to 80% for diesel cars and 25% in petrol cars. The new BS-VI norms will not only have an adverse effect on the car industry, but it will also have a big impact on the oil industry – oil suppliers, processors, distributors etc. Oil suppliers will have to upgrade the octane content in the fuel to make it compliant with BS-VI norms. Fuel with higher octane content allows for higher compression. The higher the compression the more energy available to extract from the engine. Car manufacturers will have to put in devices to monitor and control fuel performance in order to comply with BS-VI norms. This may require them to alter the dimensions of their vehicles. If so, they might not be eligible for the sub-4m tax benefits. OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturer) will have to improve the design of engine components such as piston rings, turbochargers etc. improvements in design will lead to a better and more efficiently performing engine. These modifications and changes to comply with BS-VI will come at an added cost –the price diesel cars are expected to increase by approx. Rs.75000-Rs.100000. For petrol cars – OEMs will have to increase the Platinum, Palladium and Rhodium content in the catalytic converter. Platinum, Palladium and Rhodium are used to filter and purify the harmful gases produced in the engine as a bye product of fuel ignition. With these changes, the price of petrol cars is expected to increase by Rs.15000-Rs.20000. Car manufacturers have already started making changes to their cars such as – modifications to engines, exhaust systems and other parts in order to comply with BS-VI norms. Quite a few car manufacturers have also increased the selling price (Ex-Showroom price) of their cars as a result.

   With the advent of BS-VI norms, petrol cars seem to have an edge over their diesel counterparts. It may be difficult for small diesel cars to cope with the increase in price due to the BS-VI norms. This will see a lot of car buyers switch over from diesel cars to petrol ones, especially in the small car segment. Petrol cars have 2 aces up their sleeve too – the reducing price gap between petrol and diesel fuel rates, the less significant price increase in a petrol car versus a diesel one. The Government of India is pushing for quicker adoption of electric vehicles with the ambitious FAME scheme. With increasing pollution levels and the negative impact road vehicles have on the environment the Government of India sees the FAME scheme and BS-VI as effective tools to combat increasing pollution and reduce our carbon footprint. Adopting to BS-VI emission control norms is a remarkable effort by the Government of India as India moves a step closer to greener mobility.