In a bid to check the high pollution levels in Delhi and NCR, the Government on Wednesday advanced introduction of ultra-clean Euro-VI grade petrol and diesel in the national capital by two years, saying that the new system will come into effect in April 2018.
“Taking into account the serious pollution levels in Delhi and adjoining areas, the Petroleum Ministry in consultation with public oil marketing companies (OMCs) has decided for preponement of Bharat Stage-VI (BS-VI) grade auto fuels in NCT of Delhi with effect from April 01, 2018, instead of April 01, 2020,” an Oil Ministry official release said here.
“OMCs have also been asked to examine the possibility of introduction of BS-VI auto fuels in the whole of NCR with effect from April 01, 2019. This measure is expected to help mitigate the problem of air pollution in NCT of Delhi and surrounding areas,” the Ministry’s release added.
For the rest of the country, the deadline for the introduction of BS-VI — equivalent to Euro-VI grade — remains intact, that is April 2020. In 2015, India had decided to leapfrog from current Euro-IV grade to Euro-VI emission norm complaint petrol and diesel from April 2020.
Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said in his twitter post, “The decision to prepone the introduction of BS-VI grade fuel in NCT of Delhi w.e.f. 1st April 2018 in place of 1st April 2020 is a sincere effort to curb the vehicular pollution in Delhi and adjoining areas.”
However, automakers expressed a mixed reaction on the Government move, saying that Euro-VI grade vehicles may not hit the roads before 2020 but the advancement gives them confidence to make investments in manufacturing such vehicles. Mahindra & Mahindra Managing Director Pawan Goenka said it was unlikely that automobile manufacturers would be able to bring Euro-VI vehicles by next year. “I don’t foresee any mainline player with multiple models being able to launch complete portfolio of BS-VI compliant vehicles by April 2018,’ he said.
Welcoming the initiative, Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) president Abhay Firodia said, “The early introduction of BS-VI fuel gives confidence to the auto industry that BS-VI fuel will be available across the country from April 1, 2020, when the auto industry will fully migrate to manufacturing only BS-VI compliant vehicles on a pan India basis.”
“Availability of BS VI fuel in Delhi from April 2018 also gives an opportunity to vehicle manufacturers in this region to test and validate the BS-VI vehicles being developed by the auto industry so as to be fully ready for the April 2020 deadline,” he added.
As far as ground reality is concerned, a couple of new refineries are already capable of producing Euro-VI grade fuel, which contains 10 parts per million (ppm) of sulphur as against 50 ppm in Euro-IV fuels.
Delhi consumed 906,000 tons of petrol and 1.26 million tonnes of diesel in 2016-17 and meeting that requirement from April next year would not be a problem.
According to Indian Oil Corp (IOC), for petrol engines, one of the most critical specifications is Research Octane No. (RON), which has improved from 88 in BS-II to 91, which is at par with regular 91 octane gasoline (petrol) required for Euro VI emission norms.