Confused with BSIII vs BSIV. Don’t know what is this BS? Read this in our article and find out BSIII vs BSIV on your own.
Our country holds some of the most polluted cities. To control the pollution level, the apex court made a really big decision to ban the sale of BS-III vehicles from April 1. According to the apex court, ‘Public health is more important than auto industry’s interests’; which seems right to many of us. But by making this decision, almost 8.24 lakh stocks of motor vehicles has been turned into garbage in one go, at least for Indian roads. Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) has reported the same. Such a “last minute decision,” according to analysts is likely to push OEMs to explore the option of exporting the over 8 lakh affected vehicles, to markets where emission norms have not progressed to Euro IV or equivalent.
Before coming to any conclusion on this decision of Supreme Court, we must know what all the fuss about is.
What is this BS?
To start with, the ‘BS’ in BS IV stands for ‘Bharat Stage’ which signifies the emission regulation standards set by Indian regulatory bodies. The higher the number gets, the stricter the Bharat Stage emission norms get which eventually means it becomes trickier (and costlier) for automakers to meet them.
These emission standards were set by the central government to keep a check on the pollutant levels emitted by vehicles that use combustion engines. To bring them into force, the Central Pollution Control Board sets timelines and standards which have to be followed by automakers.
Also, the BS norms are based on European emission norms which, for example, are referred to in a similar manner like ‘Euro 4’ and ‘Euro 6’. These norms are followed largely by all automakers across the globe and act as a good reference point as to how much does a vehicle pollute. Bharat Stage emission norms are largely similar to the European emission norms followed globally.
What is the problem?
- R&D demands time: It takes years for automakers to develop a new kind of an engine or to tweak around with the current ones used in their vehicles. Once the research and development is over, the task of setting up full-scale production comes up. Automakers were supposed to make their models BS IV compliant by April 1, 2017. While some automakers have met the targets and updated their products, there is a huge stock of vehicles left to be sold into the market that is BS-III compliant and as per the latest SC decision, they won’t be able to do so.
- Cost factor: All of this comes at a cost which eventually makes the vehicle more expensive for the end customer of the product and that can be a cause of concern for automakers given how price sensitive the Indian market is.
- For good engine, good fuel is needed: There is the requirement of cleaner fuel to run these vehicles that comply with a stricter emission regulation as it is not feasible to make internal combustion engines pollute less while using poor quality of fuel. As mentioned by Solicitor-General Ranjit Kumar while promoting the use of ‘new’ fuel, oil refineries spent about ₹30,000 crore since 2010 to produce it.
How will it affect the common man?
The everyday customer who is yet to buy themselves a vehicle or is planning to get one could soon have to shell out more for their purchase. On top of that, the fuel costs also need to be taken into account.
But pollution is the issue of major concern: Above all of this, there is a bigger target to be achieved. India has some of the most polluted cities in the world and automobiles are often considered as one of the biggest factors responsible for it. The need of the hour is to control the pollution levels by all means possible and since globally, countries are implying Euro 6 levels of emission regulations, India needs to step up its game and hence the BS III to BS IV emission norm implication.
Solution: According to the government, time is not a problem from their side because it was their earlier plan. These standards were first introduced in 2000. Progressively stringent norms have been rolled out since then. All new vehicles manufactured after the implementation of the norms have to be compliant with the regulations. Since October 2010, Bharat Stage (BS) III norms have been enforced across the country. In 13 major cities, Bharat Stage IV emission norms have been in place since April 2010 and It’s enforced for the whole country from April 2017.
In 2016, the Indian government announced that the country would skip the BS-V norms altogether and adopt BS-VI norms by 2020. This is the larger aim for the automotive sector.
Effects on future market
This will require a huge amount of investments to make the oil refineries capable of producing a better quality of fuel and also investments in the infrastructure to make that fuel available across the country. Then, the automakers will have to make investments on their end too in order to speed up the research and development process and improve their own infrastructure – like the manufacturing plants – to make their offering BS VI compliant.
This, eventually, will make owning an internal combustion engine powered car more expensive to own and maintain.
To sum it up, India is making an effort to grab the bull by its horns and hence, a lot of changes in the trends, sales, and choices made by customers are expected in the coming years. Apart from that, these types of initiatives are necessary for all of us and our future generations.
Source :
- http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/sc-orders-freeze-on-sale-registration-of-bs-iii-vehicles-from-april-1/article17728104.ece
- http://www.thehindu.com/business/Industry/bs-iii-vehicle-sales-ban-unfortunate-siam/article17738486.ece
- https://www.quora.com/What-are-BS3-and-BS4-Engines
- http://www.news18.com/news/auto/supreme-court-asks-automobile-firms-not-to-frustrate-bs-iv-roll-out-1365329.html
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bharat_Stage_emission_standards
- http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/unsold-bs-iii-vehicles-can-be-registered/article17688100.ece
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