With The World's Worst Air Pollution Levels, Here Is How BS-VI Emission Norms Will Help India

Indian cities have been reeling in hazardous pollution levels, so much so that 14 of the world¡¯s top 15 most polluted cities are in India. India also holds the title for having the world¡¯s worst air pollution, deeming its level to be ¡°catastrophic¡±. The major contributor - the country¡¯s transportation. The Indian government now aims to change the disastrous conditions and for that, it will be bringing BS-VI emission norms into effect next year. But what are BS-VI norms? How will they help? Read on.

What are BS-VI norms?

BS-VI or Bharat Stage VI ¡®emission¡¯ norms define emission standards for all the vehicles supposed to operate in India. Considered to be the most advanced emission norms, the BS-VI norms are at par with the Euro-VI norms that serve the same purpose for vehicles across Europe.

Through the norms, the government has set standards for the vehicles to operate within a permissible limit of emissions. Any vehicle emitting pollutants above the set standards cannot be sold in the country once the BS-VI standards are in place. The limits have been defined as per vehicle categories - i.e. for two, three and four wheelers.

BS-VI norms follow the earlier BS-IV emission norms followed since 2017 in the country. With the alarming rise in air pollution levels in India, the union government decided to jump to BS-VI norms directly, bringing in stricter emission control norms for the vehicles. Consecutively, the automobile industry was directed to comply to the regulations starting April 1, 2020.

The standards

As mentioned, the new norms will reduce the permissible limits for various pollutants found in emissions of vehicles. The following graphs of compression ignition vehicles (diesel engines)

and spark ignition vehicles (petrol engines) respectively show how the permissible limits have been drastically reduced in several cases from the earlier BS IV norms.

BS IV and VI emission limits for compression ignition (diesel) vehicles. (Graph: ICCT)

BS IV and VI emission limits for spark ignition (petrol) vehicles. (Graph: ICCT)

As can be seen in the graphs, the reduction in the permissible particulate matter, Hydrocarbons, Nitric oxides, Carbon monoxide and all such polluting elements from each of the classes of vehicles is substantial with the BS-VI emission norms. So, as the norms are brought into effect, the vehicles plying on the Indian roads are set to become much less polluting than today.

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Required changes in vehicles

Naturally, to meet the new standards, auto makers will have to make substantial changes in the vehicles themselves. One of the changes, for instance, is that on-board diagnostics (OBD) will now become mandatory for all classes of vehicles. The OBD unit will identify any area of malfunction in accordance with default codes stored on a computer. This will help the emission control devices in BS-VI vehicle to run at optimum efficiency throughout the life of a vehicle.

Similarly, a big change for the two-wheelers will be that all of them will now come with a fuel injection system, a first of its kind mandate in India. A fuel injected engine has a significantly more efficient engine combustion process, meaning optimised fuel economy and reduced emission levels. On the downside, prices for the motorcycle and scooters equipped with fuel injection systems will also see a rise.

The chain effect

Due to stricter norms, auto makers will have to maintain a standard of efficiency in their vehicles that will come at an additional cost. Systems like OBD and fuel injection and the corresponding emission tests will all cost extra bucks to the manufacturers, a price that will ultimately be paid by the buyers. So you can expect the BS-VI compliant vehicles to be significantly costlier than the present ones.