Renault India currently has just one diesel engine in its portfolio – the 1.5-litre unit that does duty in the Lodgy, Duster and the Captur. The company has decided against upgrading the said engine to meet the stringent BS6 (Bharat Stage 6) levels of emission norms. The simple reason is cost. Upgrading the engine’s hardware and the supporting software will incur high costs which, when passed on to the customer, will make diesel-fed models considerably more expensive.

To power its present and future models, the current range of petrol engines will be made BS6-ready before we enter the next fiscal. The company also confirmed that new and more efficient petrol-powered engines will be introduced in the BS6 era. As of now, none of the five models that Renault retails in India is BS6-compliant. The company’s latest offering – the Triber – also launched with just one powertrain option and that too conforms to BSIV standards.

The only other carmaker in India that has decided to completely boycott diesel models from April 1, 2020, is Maruti Suzuki. It, however, categorically said that if the market demands, the 1.5-litre DDiS engine which is currently on offer with the Ciaz and the Ertiga, will be kept on standby. Manufacturers like Mahindra and Tata Motors will be axing their smaller diesel engines (Tata Motor’s 1.05-litre unit and Mahindra’s 1.2-litre unit). But they will retain and upgrade the ones which power their popular models.

Carmakers such as Hyundai, Toyota, Ford and Honda have confirmed that they will continue to sell diesel models with BS6-compliant engines. It is, however, unclear whether they will retail all of their respective diesel engines. Do you feel the demand for diesel will continue even after the mandatory BS6 norms come into effect? Let us know in the comments section below.