Salient features of ‘Bharat Stage’ Vehicle Emission Norms in India

IAS Mains General Studies Sample Answers

Bring out the salient features of the evolution and the current status of the ‘Bharat Stage’ vehicle emission norms in the India?

‘Bharat Stage’ vehicle emission norms are emission standard instituted by the government of India that regulate the output of air pollutants, such as NO2, CO, hydrocarbons, particulate matter (PM), including motor vehicles, or other air pollutant. In most cases they are similar to the European emission standards. The standards and the timeline for implementation are set by the Central Pollution Control Board under the Ministry of Environment & Forests.

Emission regulation were first imposed in India in 1989 in Idle emission. It was followed by mass emission regulation in 1991 and figment it catalytic for cars in metros in 1995, these regulations further tightened and extended in 1996 and 1998. In 2000 Bharat Stage II (EURO II equivalent) norms were introduced in NCR. The norms were farther extended on to other cities and vehicles in 2001 and to the entire country in 2005. In 2005 Bharat Stage III norms were introduced in NCR and 12 other cities and extended to the entire country in 2010. These are applicable to all new 4 wheelers sold and registered in the respective regions for 2 and 3 wheelers, Bharat Stage III norms came into force from April 2010.

In 2002, the Indian government accepted the report submitted by the Mashelkar committee. The committee proposed a road map for the roll out of Euro based emission norms for India. It also recommended a phased implementation of future norms with the regulations being implemented in major cities first and extended to the rest of the country after a few years.

Though enforcement of these norms brought down emission reductions to a significant level for example in case of cars the upper limit is 84% from 1991 to 2000 but there are certain deviations vis-à-vis EURO references which if addressed could bring even better results.

Overview of the emission norms in India

  • 1991 – Idle CO Limits for Gasoline Vehicles and Free Acceleration Smoke for Diesel Vehicles, Mass Emission Norms for Gasoline Vehicles.
  • 1992 – Mass Emission Norms for Diesel Vehicles.
  • 1996 – Revision of Mass Emission Norms for Gasoline and Diesel Vehicles, mandatory fitment of Catalytic Converter for Cars in Metros on Unleaded Gasoline.
  • 1998 – Cold Start Norms Introduced.
  • 2000 – India 2000 (Equivalent to Euro I) Norms, Modified IDC (Indian Driving Cycle), Bharat Stage II Norms for Delhi.
  • 2001 – Bharat Stage II (Equivalent to Euro II) Norms for All Metros, Emission Norms for CNG & LPG Vehicles.
  • 2003 – Bharat Stage II (Equivalent to Euro II) Norms for 13 major cities.
  • 2005 – From 1 April Bharat Stage III (Equivalent to Euro III) Norms for 13 major cities.
  • 2010 – Bharat Stage III Emission Norms for 4-wheelers for entire country whereas Bharat Stage – IV (Equivalent to Euro IV) for 13 major cities. Bharat Stage IV also has norms on OBD (similar to Euro III but diluted)
    Data Source: Wikipedia.org

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