Industry Odisha Bureau, Jun 10: The Government of India (GoI) is reportedly mulling to notify the Bharat Stage 7 (BS7) emission norms from the current fiscal year (FY) 2026-27 in a bid to curb vehicular pollution and align with evolving global standards, while the roll out is likely to be from 2030 as the automakers need enough time and investments to adopt cleaner technologies.
As per media reports, “The GoI had launched the BS6 emission norms in 2020 in a bid to reduce vehicular emissions, while the BS7 are expected to impose stricter norms on emissions.”
Reportedly, “Vehicle emission norms were first introduced in India in 1992, set by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). In 2000, India’s first emission regulation was introduced named ‘India 2000’. The Supreme Court (SC) ordered all new automobiles in India to comply with this new emission standard. ‘India 2000’ made the catalytic converter mandatory in all new vehicles. Technically, ‘India 2000’ can be called the first emission norms, or BS1, but it was never referred to as the Bharat Stage One.”
In addition, “After ‘India 2000’ came the Bharat Stage 2 (BS2) norms, which were implemented across India till 2005. This set of norms introduced the Multi Point Fuel Injection (MPFI) system, which became mandatory in all vehicles. Then, the Bharat Stage 3, 4, and 6, were introduced in 2010, 2017 and 2020 respectively. As it took seven years for India to transition from ‘BS3’ to ‘BS4’ emission norms, and by then the global ‘Euro Six’ emission norm had already arrived. Owing to this, the Government of India skipped ‘BS5’ entirely, and directly implemented ‘BS6’. April 2023 saw the implementation of the BS6 phase 2 norms which focus real-time driving emission (RDE) norms.”
Notably, “RDE norms are designed to measure the actual emissions produced by a vehicle under real-world driving conditions, ensuring that the vehicles comply with environmental standards beyond the controlled laboratory tests.”
Reports said, “Changes under ‘BS7’ standard will include introduction of ‘On Board Monitoring’ (OBM) in the vehicle to monitor tailpipe emissions in real time. Besides, ‘BS7’ will impose stricter emission norms for severe pollutants like carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and nitrogen oxide. Whether the vehicle is run by petrol or diesel, it will be limited to 60 mg/kg under the ‘BS7’ norms, while this new norm would witness more turbo-charged and direct injection vehicles.”
Media reports also said, “The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has started inter-ministerial discussions and is holding consultations with automobile manufacturers, fuel retailers and testing agencies to assess technological readiness and implementation timelines much prior to rolling out the ‘BS7’ emission norms in India.”
However, experts opined that, “The ‘BS7’ implementation would cost automakers about Rs 30,000 to Rs 1,00,00 per vehicle depending on the segment and technological upgradation required for the specific model, while there would definitely be a hike in the price tag, and the customers are going to bear the brunt. Even, the rising cost could put pressure on the automakers to discontinue manufacturing certain models of the vehicles.”
