Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar, in a written reply to the Lok Sabha, said leapfrogging to BS-VI will reduce pollution by 50 percent.
The implementation of BS-VI standards is a hotly debated topic with a few companies arguing that the jump from BS-IV to BS-VI will be a technological challenge with the deadline to adopt BS-VI standards set at 1st April 2020. The government estimates that it will require Rs 20,000 crore for upgrading the technology to purify gasoline products and another Rs 60,000 crore for purification of diesel products.
“Consultations with stakeholders were undertaken before issue of draft notification, including with ministries concerned, representatives of oil refineries and industries. As per procedure, final notification is issued after considering the comments and suggestions received on the draft notification.
“Investment requirement for migration to BS-VI by April 1, 2020 for gasoline works out to be about Rs 20,000 crore and for diesel it is estimated to be Rs 60,000 crore as per the Auto Fuel Vision and Policy-2025,” Javadekar said.
“In case of diesel-based passenger cars, 68 percent reduction in NOx and 82 percent reduction in PM is estimated. In case of gasoline-based passenger cars, the estimated reduction in NOx is 25 per cent,” Javadekar said.
BS-VI implementation could reduce pollution by 50 percent
The current BS-IV fuel has 50 parts per million(ppm) of sulphur while the BS-VI will have only 10ppm of sulphur. Upgradation to BS V norms would reduce the pollution levels from the 4-wheeler industry by 80% in terms of PM and NOx will be reduced by 60 %, thereby, making huge contributions to the ambient air quality of Indian cities.
Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), the industry body of automakers in India is against the move, saying that it is unrealistic to implement these standards before 2023. Eralier, the BS VI was to be implemented by 2024, but with pollution becoming a huge problem, the government fast-tracked the implementation by three years.