Indian automotive market switches over to BS6
Published On Apr 01, 2020
The much-awaited transition is now the norm. Only BS6 vehicles will be sold and registered from today, amidst few days of exemption due to lockdown.
The Indian automotive industry today marks a transition to the most stringent emission norms to become part of the few select nations in the world. Three years ago, the government decided to skip the BS5 stage and directly leap to BS6; the implementation appeared challenging. Partly due to the unpreparedness of the automotive ecosystem and importantly, nowhere in the world, such a transition took place in three years. Yet, the Indian automotive industry has shown resilience, the government commitment to getting the BS6 oil within the deadline has made this transition achievable.
Today, finally, the entire ecosystem, including OEMs, oil refineries and retail distribution, is ready for this historical transition.
However, the COVID-19 has disrupted the whole country and the manufacturing activities. Due to a nationwide lockdown, the commercial sales of BS6 vehicles may take a couple of weeks to commence. Also, the Supreme courts have allowed to sell and register unsold BS4 vehicle for limited days.
The Indian emission norms of these new vehicles are now at par with Europe, meeting one of the most stringent emission norms globally. In fact, the emission norms of all models of Two-Wheelers in India is ahead of Europe (2021) and Japan (2022), and India is the first country across the world, to adopt this level of emission norms. More than 1,000 models and variants of BS6 were to be developed to BS6 Emission Norms in just 3 years, and the industry in the process is investing to the tune of Rs 70,000 Crores for this achievement.
Speaking on the industry’s incredible achievement in meeting BS6 norms in record time, Rajan Wadhera, President SIAM said “It is unprecedented anywhere in the world to switch to such stringent emission regime on one single day, for all categories of vehicles including, Two-Wheelers, Three-Wheelers, Passenger Vehicles, Trucks and Buses. I do compliment my fellow industry colleagues for this outstanding achievement in meeting BS VI emission norms despite facing huge challenges of technology, time and resources.”
Why BS6
Given the rising pollution and worsening air-quality in Indian cities, the government decided to take such a drastic step to check the vehicular emission. Despite a huge challenge, the Indian automotive industry with a collective effort has demonstrated the successful development of BS6 vehicle withing record time. The BS6 implementation shall now mark a fundamental shift for superior fuel standards in India as it will reduce the sulphur content responsible for toxic air quality.
The advent of BS6 fuel will herald the new dawn for vehicular pollutions across Indian cities and towns. The reduction in nitrogen (NOx) will be significant; a petrol vehicle will reduce NOx by 25% and diesel vehicles by 70% after switching over to BS6 fuel. Also, importantly, IndianOil Research proves that the use of BSVI quality fuels will only further improve performance for the existing BS6 compliant vehicles.
OEMs Ready
The retail sale of BS4 trucks is no longer permitted; the new vehicles rolling off the assembly lines must be BS6 emission compliant. The Indian truck makers have been preparing for this transition for a few years now, and the BS6 truck portfolio is ready. The commercial sales have already started in select markets such as Delhi and NCR, where the BS6 fuel is already available. The national retail sale is likely to commence later this month.
Most of the OEMs have already showcased their BS6 products in the last few months; the manufacturing also started in a limited number before plants shutdown came into effect. In the next two weeks after the nationwide lockdown period ends, the manufacturing factories will start humming again to catch-up with the lost days to get the BS6 truck ready for retail distribution.