What Are The Bharat Stage Emission Standards
Bharat Stage Emission Standards (BSES) are emission norms given by the Government Of India to control the output of pollutants from automobile engines. The standards and the time span for enforcement are given by the Central Pollution Control Board under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
To read in depth about the norms, you can visit wikipedia
How is Bharat Stage VI Different?
Bharat Stage VI (BS VI) is an emission norm that is bound to bring much-desired changes in the Indian automobile industry in terms of pollutant emissions. With this emission standard coming into play, India will come at par with the United States, most European countries and other top notch automotive markets across the world.
India currently follows BS IV norms that were adopted in 2018 across the country.
Bharat Stage VI norms includes a wide list of technological advancements under the hood, the most significant being making On Board Diagnostics (OBD) mandatory for all vehicles.
Why the Jump From BSIV to BSVI?
India has 10 of the most populated cities of the world and some of the most polluted too, this is one distinction we should not be proud of.
Vehicular emissions play a major role in the worsening air quality of Indian cities. Emission of NOx, SO2, CO2 and particulate matter takes a toll on people’s health. In cities like Delhi, the PM2.5 level is more than 6 times the prescribed levels by WHO.
In October 2016, India signed the Conference of Protocol also known as the Paris Climate Agreement. Being a part of the agreement, India is obligated to lower the carbon footprint by 33-55% from the levels recorded in 2005 in the forthcoming 12 years.
This lead to the need for a stricter norm criteria that could reduce the emissions majorly and put India on the path to meet the Paris agreement goals.
Ideally, BS V was planned to be rolled out by 2021 and BS VI in 2024 but leapfrogging to Bharat Stage VI norms by 2020 had to be planned because of the carbon footprint obligations.
Advantages of BS VI
BS VI is at par with Euro VI norms already adopted in European countries. In fact, this new emission norm also addresses one major drawback in the Euro VI norms that allows emission of higher PM (particulate matter) in diesel engines.
Given Below are some of the pros of BS VI Norms
NOx emissions will be reduced by approximately 25% for the petrol engine and 68% for the diesel engines.
The PM emissions will see a sharp decrease of 80% in diesel engines.
OBD will be mandatory for every vehicle and it will help monitor the pollution caused by the vehicle in real time.
RDE (Real Driving Emission) will be introduced for the first time that will check the emissions in real-world conditions and not just under test conditions.
Bharat Stage VI norms will also change the way particulate matter is measured. It will now be measured by number standards instead of mass standards hence, regulating the fine particulate matter as well.
Could Electric Cars be the Solution?
In most developed countries, Electric Vehicles have already seen a sharp rise in popularity and sales. World’s Number 1 Electric Cars | Tesla Vehicles have already made a name for themselves in most markets and are planning to make their way into the Indian automobile industry too.
