Bharat Stage VI (BS-VI) norms came was compulsorily mandated by the government from April 2020 for cars and two-wheelers. We have explained the importance of BS-VI compliance below.
The Bharat Stage Emission Standard (BSES) was introduced in 2000 by the government to mandate the emission standard of the automotive to keep a check on the air pollutants emission from the vehicle due to the internal combustion.
The Bharat Stage (or BS) norms are based on European emission standards. The ‘India 2000’ norms came in 2000, followed by BS-II in 2002, BS-III in 2005 and BS-IV in 2010. The government decided to skip BS-V norms entirely and instead introduced stricter BS-VI norms in 2020.
Here’s all you need to know about the importance of BS-VI norms and its compliance in India.
What are BS-VI norms?
The Bharat Stage 6 (BS-VI) norm is the sixth emission mandate set by the government for vehicular emissions in India. It is a stricter, more restrictive norm formed by the government to keep a check on India’s rising air pollution levels emitted by the combustion engines of the vehicles.
With the roll-out of the BS-VI norms, India will come at par with the equivalent US and European emissions norms. The BS-VI norms were mandated in India from April 2020. The automakers will have to reconfigure and redesign their vehicle engines to ensure complete compliance with the new BS-VI standards.
The BS-VI compliant vehicles will run on BS-VI fuels to control the emission levels from the vehicles caused due to the lower-quality fuel. In addition to automakers, oil manufacturing companies also need to tweak their products to ensure that the fuel is suitable for the BS-VI engines.
Difference between BS-VI and BS-IV
The significant difference between the BS-IV and BS-VI norms is the presence of sulphur content in the fuel. The BS-VI fuel contains five times fewer sulphur content in them, that is ten parts per million (ppm) as compared to 50 ppm present in BS-IV fuels. The harmful nitrogen oxides (NOx) emission will be brought down by 70% in diesel vehicles and 25% in petrol vehicles.
In BS-VI norms, a Real Driving Emission (RDE) will be introduced for the first time to measure the vehicle emissions in real-world conditions. For diesel engines, DPF (Diesel Particulate Filter) and SCR (Selective Catalytic Reduction) will be introduced to reduce the emission levels.
The roll-out BS-VI norms, the automakers need to remove all the BS-IV variants present in the market and develop the BS-VI compliant engine. This transition is a long and tedious process and also a bit tricky and costly for the automotive makers. With the current slowdown faced by the auto industry and a large amount of investment in manufacturing BS-VI vehicle engines, 10% of the manufacturing cost will be shifted to the car buyers. Hopefully, the compliance of BS-VI norms will help to control the pollution levels caused due to the harmful vehicular emissions.
Companies like Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, Kia Motors, and Mercedes have already launched some of their models with BS6-compliant engines.
