31/03/2017
The Supreme Court of India has banned the sale of vehicles that do not comply with BS IV emission norms as the norms are set to become mandatory from April 1, 2017.
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what is this BS?
start with, the ‘BS’ in BS IV stands for ‘Bharat Stage’ which signifies the emission regulation standards set by Indian regulatory bodies. The ‘IV’ is a roman numeric representation for four (4). The higher the number gets, the stricter the Bharat Stage emission norms get which eventually means it becomes trickier (and costlier) for automakers to meet them.
These emission standards were set by the central government to keep a check on the pollutant levels emitted by vehicles that use combustion engines. To bring them into force, the Central Pollution Control Board sets timelines and standards which have to be followed by automakers.
•Also, the BS norms are based on European emission norms which, for example, are referred to in a similar manner like ‘Euro 4’ and ‘Euro 6’. These norms are followed largely by all automakers across the globe and act as a good reference point as to how much does a vehicle pollute.
•To wrap it up and put it simply, Bharat Stage emission norms are largely similar to the European emission norms followed globally.
what is the problem?
the application of a stricter emission norm may sound good, especially amidst the mounting concerns over the ever-rising pollution levels in the country, there’s a lot more to it than just that.
Firstly, it takes years for automakers to develop a new kind of an engine or to tweak around with the current ones used in their vehicles. Once the research and development is over, the task of setting up full scale production comes up. All of this comes at a cost which eventually makes the vehicle more expensive for the end customer of the product and that can be a cause of concern for automakers given how price sensitive the Indian market is.
Automakers were supposed to make their models BS IV compliant by April 1, 2017. While some automakers have met the targets and updated their products, there is a huge stock of vehicles left to be sold into the market that are BS-III compliant and as per the latest SC decision, they won’t be able to do so.
Recently, Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) had told the court that the companies were holding stock of around 8.24 lakh such vehicles. These included around 96,000 commercial vehicles, over 6 lakh two-wheelers and around 40,000 three-wheelers.
Then, there is also the requirement of cleaner fuel to run these vehicles that comply with a stricter emission regulation as it is not feasible to make internal combustion engines pollute less while using poor quality of fuel. As per a report, the Centre has spent around Rs 18,000 to 20,000 crore for producing cleaner fuel.
To wrap it up, automakers have a huge stock that does not comply with the soon-to-be-implemented BS IV emission norm and they risk facing huge losses. Whereas, as per the Centre, automakers have been given enough time for the transition and they have done their part to provide cleaner fuel, which cost a significant amount of money to do so.
Okay, so what does all of this have to do with me?
The everyday customer who is yet to buy themselves a vehicle or is planning to get one could soon have to shell out more for their purchase. On top of that, the fuel costs also need to be taken into account.
But above all of this, there is a bigger target to be achieved. India has some of the most polluted cities in the world and automobiles are often considered as one of the biggest factors responsible for it.
