The government has asked car manufacturers to embrace Euro VI emission norms and skip Euro V in a bid to combat pollution and is no mood in providing extension to comply with the new norms.
Understanding the gravity of rising pollution levels, the Indian government has conveyed to car manufacturers that it will not be extending the timeframe to comply with stricter emission norms. Road Transport minister Nitin Gadkari has asked the auto industry to switch to Euro VI emission norms at the earliest by embracing the new technology and skip Euro V altogether if possible. The statement comes at a time when SIAM has demanded extension for the compliance of Euro V and VI emission norms.
SIAM had previously stated that compressing the timeframe for applying the stringent emission norms could result in the risk of putting inadequately validated technology on Indian roads. SIAM had also cautioned that moving directly to BS VI emission norms could also lead to major safety concerns that could put the life of consumers at risk. Even though the fuel for BS V and VI norms are the same, the vehicle technologies applied is significantly different and need to be tested and validated which takes a period of 4-4.5 years.
Lagging by light years, only 33 cities in India have adopted the BS IV norms while the rest of the country still uses BS III technology. However, the government has made it clear that from this October only BS IV compliant vehicles will be sold in seven states, while the emission norms will come into effect pan India by 1st April 2017. The application of higher emission norms will also see better fuel economy on vehicles, thereby reducing crude oil import bills which currently stands at Rs. 8 lakh crores per year.
In addition, the 2016-26 Automotive Mission Plan (AMP 2026) that sets a roadmap for the next 10 years was unveiled and is a collective vision of the Indian government and the automotive industry. The plan gives a glimpse as to where the vehicle as well as component industry will be by 2026 and the contribution it will make to the overall Indian economy. The targets set over the next decade include –
1) To see India as one of the top three automotive industries in the world.
2) To see Indian automotive industry grow 3.5-4 times from the current $74 billion to $260-300 billion.
3) To see the passenger vehicle market increase between 9.4-13.4 million units by 2026, whereas commercial vehicles grow between 2-3.9 million units. Two wheelers are expected to grow to 50.6-55.6 million units and tractors to 1.5-1.7 million units during the next decade.
4) To see the automotive industry contribute 12 percent to the GDP.
5) To see the industry generate 65 million more jobs.
6) To see the automotive industry at the forefront of the ‘Make In India’ initiative.
7) To increase exports multifold to reach 35-40 percent of the overall output.
8) To implement ‘End Of Life’ policy for automotive vehicles and components.
9) To see BS V norms are adopted by 2019 and BS VI norms are implemented by 2023 for passenger vehicles.
10) To see the auto component market to grow between Rs. 5,93,500 crores to Rs. 7,32,000 crores.
