Auto Industry Body Welcomes Tighter Pollution Control Rules

The apex body of Indian auto manufacturers has welcomed a government decision to introduce stricter pollution control rules from 2019 and promised to upgrade technologies in line with the new emission norms.

The new emission norm known as Bharat Stage V (BS V) has been approved by the central government to cut worrying levels of air pollution across India, especially in major cities suffering from congestion.

The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) said the government’s decision to move to BS V by 2019 is a good step, but the proposal to advance the implementation of the stricter BS VI norms by three years to 2021 is unrealistic.

At present India follows Bharat Stage IV (BS IV) norms in most cities.

"Upgradation to BS V norms would reduce the pollution levels from the 4-wheeler industry by 80 per cent in terms of PM (particulate matter) 2.5 for HCV (heavy commercial vehicles) and 90 per cent for passenger cars and NOx (nitrogen oxide) will be reduced by 60 per cent and 64 per cent respectively, thereby, making huge contributions to the ambient air quality of Indian cities. We are happy that SIAM’s recommendation to advance the BS V timeline to 2019 has been accepted by the government,” said Vinod Dasari, president of SIAM.

The industry body had in October called for a single set of emission norms in the country. Uniform and simplified emission rules would allow automakers to sell the same car in every state.

SIAM has proposed that the implementation of BS VI norms should be delayed to 2023 to give the industry more time to develop technology.

It said introducing the BS VI norms in 2021 will neither be technically possible nor advisable due to the extensive testing and validation of the technologies.

Technology providers have expressed their inability to provide fully validated BS VI solutions for all types and models of four-wheelers before 2023, according to a SIAM statement.

Introducing technologies without proper validation and testing on the Indian roads will raise questions such as car fires which can endanger human lives, SIAM said.