Govt decides to directly shift from BS-IV to BS-VI emission norms

The Government has decided to skip Bharat Stage (BS) V emission norms altogether and move on to BS VI emission norms from the current BS IV norms. The Ministry of Road Transport & Highways has decided to leapfrog from BS-IV to BS-VI emission norms directly by April1, 2020. A unanimous decision was taken on January 6, 2016 in a meeting chaired by Minister of Road Transport & Highways and Shipping Nitin Gadkari and attended by Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Anant Geete, Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Prakash Javadekar, and Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan along with senior officials of the Ministries to directly switch over to BS-VI emission norms from the present BS-IV emission norms.

The Ministry will soon issue a notification in this regard. The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has assured supply of BS-VI fuel across the country by 01.04.2020. The Ministry has withdrawn an earlier draft which had suggested shifting to BS-VI after switch to BS-V. The Ministry is also sure that the Indian Automobile industry with its technical competence and commitment to environment will rise to the occasion and support the decision.

It may be mentioned that the Auto Fuel Policy had recommended implementation of BS-VI norms by 2024. Earlier in the draft notification by the Ministry the date was advanced to 01.04.2021 and now it has been further advanced to 01.04.2020.

Source: PIB