Switching to BS VI emission norms directly from BS IV is not feasible, Vijay Chibber, Secretary, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, has said. Chibber said the Ministry’s internal consultations with experts have revealed that technological issues make leapfrogging BS V norms difficult.
Implementation difficultAsked about the Ministry for Petroleum and Natural Gas planning to squeeze the timeline for implementation of BS VI to 2020, Chibber said, “Oil Ministry should not be the one to talk. They are the reason we are struggling with implementation of BS IV, BS V and BS VI norms. They need to pull up their socks.”
Chibber, who was speaking on the sidelines of the 6th Annual Conference on Diesel organised by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers on Wednesday, also said shifting from BS IV to BS V can be done in a sequential manner but jumping to BS VI requires different technology.
India is behind China and Europe in adopting higher emission norms.
Only north Indian States of Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Delhi, parts of Rajasthan and Western UP get BS IV grade petrol and diesel. The rest of the country is still on BS III grade fuel.
BS IV will be implemented in Goa, Kerala, Karnataka, Telangana, Odisha, Daman and Diu, Dadra-Nagar-Haveli and Andaman & Nicobar by April 1, 2016, and the rest of the country by April 1, 2017.
While the initial plan was to have BS V implemented by April 2020 and BS VI by April 2024, the Petroleum Ministry told the Standing Committee on Petroleum and Natural Gas that it is considering a direct switch to BS VI by April 1, 2020.
Chibber said while the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways is now thinking of setting up a separate Department of Transportation.