BHARAT STAGE NORMS

ABOUT BHARAT STAGE NORMS

Bharat stage emission standards (BSES) are emission standards instituted by the Government of India to regulate the output of air pollutants from internal combustion engines and Spark-ignition engines equipment, including motor vehicles.
The standards and the timeline for implementation are set by the Central Pollution Control Board under the Ministry of Environment & Forests and climate change
The standards, based on European regulations were first introduced in 2000
In 2014, Saumitra Chaudhary committee gave recommendations on Auto Fuel Vision Policy 2025 which had recommended implementation of BS-IV (2017), BS-V (2019) and BS-VI (2024) standards.
In 2016, the Indian government announced that the country would skip the BS-V norms altogether and adopt BS-VI norms by 2020
While the norms help in bringing down pollution levels, it invariably results in increased vehicle cost due to the improved technology & higher fuel prices
Currently, BS IV norms have been enforced across the country since April 2017. However, recently the Supreme Court of India ordered barring of sale of Bharat Stage IV vehicles from April 1, 2020.

Saumitra’s report touched on – Bharat norms (next stage implementation), Taxation issues & Alternative fuels. Let’s study a few of the fuels.
Methanol – is readily biodegradable, can be used directly or by blending with petrol, is already used in racing cars of China.
Ethanol – burns cleaner and burns more completely than petrol, is an organic solvent, can be derived from Sugar cane juice and molasses.
Hydrogen Fuel – Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE)’s Green Initiatives for Future Transport (GIFT). It has vision-2020 for Hydrogen.

The Supreme Court has banned the sale and registration of motor vehicles conforming to the emission standard Bharat Stage-IV in the entire country from April 1, 2020
Bharat Stage (BS) emission norms are standards instituted by the government to regulate the output of air pollutants from motor vehicles
SC quoted that India has the dubious distinction of having 15 out of the 20 most polluted cities in the world and thus such measure was necessary
The problem of pollution is not limited to the NCR of Delhi but it is a problem which has engulfed the entire country especially the major cities
BSVI compliant vehicles are going to be more expensive than BSIV compliant vehicles and people have a tendency to buy cheaper vehicle(s) even from a neighboring city.

The country will have to shift to the cleaner Bharat- VI fuel from April 1, 2020
The BS-IV norms have been enforced across the country since April 2017
In 2016, the Centre had announced the country would skip the BS-V norms altogether and adopt BS-VI norms by 2020.

Selective Catalytic Reduction Technology- It reduces oxides of nitrogen by injecting an aqueous urea solution into the system. Hence, NOx from diesel cars can be brought down by nearly 70%. In the petrol cars, they can be reduced by 25%.
Sulphur Content- While the BS-IV fuels contain 50 parts per million (ppm) sulphur, the BS-VI grade fuel only has 10 ppm sulphur content.
Particulate Matter- in diesel cars will be reduced by 80%.
Mandatory on-board diagnostics (OBD)- which inform the vehicle owner or the repair technician about how efficient the systems in the vehicles are.
RDE (Real Driving Emission) will be introduced for the first time that will measure the emission in real-world conditions and not just under test conditions.

The pro-active approach from the Government of India has made the country leapfrog from the conventional BS-IV to directly adopt BS-VI emission norms as the next level for regulatory framework in India.
The BS-VI emission standards are much more elaborate in their scope and integrate substantial changes to existing emission standards ensuring cleaner products to the consumer.
Besides the more stringent limits on the gaseous emission components, the particulate matter (PM) limits have also been significantly reduced along with the introduction of particle number (PN) limits.

Vehicular emission is a major contributor to the worsening air quality of Indian cities. Emission of NOx, SO2, CO2 and particulate matter is taking a toll on people’s health. In cities like Delhi, the PM2.5 level is more than 6 times the prescribed levels by WHO. These new norms will help reduce these vehicular pollution significantly.
At the BS-VI level, the gap maintained between emissions from diesel and petrol, wherein diesel cars are allowed to emit more particulate matter and nitrogen oxide, narrows.

Moving to BS-VI directly will require significant technological upgrades for which auto companies may have to invest heavily.
Once the research and development is over, the task of setting up full-scale production comes up. o 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 besold into the market. As per the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), the companies were holding stock of around 8.24 lakh such vehicles.

Normally it takes 4 years to upgrade and here the companies have to skip the BS V altogether and upgrade directly to BS VI. Smaller bonnet cars of India may not be able to imbibe Diesel Particulate Filter in them which was supposed to be a part of BS-V upgrade.

Normally it takes 4 years to upgrade and here the companies have to skip the BS V altogether and upgrade directly to BS VI. Smaller bonnet cars of India may not be able to imbibe Diesel Particulate Filter in them which was supposed to be a part of BS-V upgrade.

A successful transition to BS-VI norms will be a landmark event for the country and it must be taken in a mission mode approach by all the stakeholders.
Governments should incentivize the automobile manufacturers and partner the oil companies to manage this transition.