Saar: That’s the same date when Bharat Stage (BS) VI emission norms will be enforced across the country.

It is official! Unless, of course, the auto industry comes up with some valid rebuttal! The Supreme Court of India has said that no Bharat Stage (BS) IV-complaint vehicle will be sold anywhere in the country from April 1, 2020. That’s the same date when India will leapfrog the BS V norms and implement BS VI emission standards. The idea is to bring the hammer down on the pollutants emitted from vehicles with conventional internal combustion engines.

As of now, BS VI grade of fuel is only available in Delhi-NCR region. The centre expedited the availability of the cleaner fuel for the capital as it has been at the epicentre of the rising air pollution across the country. That said, only a handful of vehicles have engines which can make full use of the clear fuel grade. And, running a BS IV-complaint engine on the BS VI grade of fuel will have a negligible positive impact.

The ban on the sale of BS-IV vehicles from April 1, 2020, was ordered by a three-judge bench, which was headed by Justice Madan B Lokur. He made it perfectly clear that only BS VI complaint vehicles shall be sold in the country from the said date.

It was in the year 2016 when the central government announced that India would be skipping BS V standard of emission norms and will be implementing BS VI norms by the year 2020. In order to tackle the problem of rising air toxicity, the central government is also promoting to make use of CNG as a less-polluting alternative. Last month, at the 58^th Annual SIAM Convention, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas announced that India is likely to have 10,000 CNG stations by 2030. On the other hand, union minister Nitin Gadkari has been busy pointing out the importance of exploring alternative fuels such as ethanol and methanol.