Automobile industry’s new ‘road map to future emission norms’ promises too little -- too late

Centre for Science and Environment condemns the new schedule proposed by the automobile industry to phase in tighter emission norms for vehicles in the next ten years. What has been ostensibly presented as a "proactive" agenda by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), essentially seems like an attempt to preclude the possibility of getting caught unawares by Court rulings slapping tight deadlines on them. The Supreme Court has made car industry revise the emission standards twice -- Euro I in June 1999 and Euro II in April 2000, within a span of nine months. Despite the proof that the industry can be pushed to get their act together fast their own agenda for action lacks the sense of urgency and is extremely lax.

Though, it is an important development that the automobile industry has come forward to present their charter of action to improve emission levels to the public, it will defeat the purpose if such gestures remain cosmetic and without serious intention to improve technology fast.

Despite the so called "hard" efforts to catch up with the current European emission norms there would still be a minimum gap of 3 to 2 years in the case of passenger cars and a time lag of 7 years in the case of heavy duty and multi-utility vehicles. CSE is very unhappy with the proposal that the heavy duty vehicle industry will skip Euro III to continue with the dirtier technology of Euro II for seven more years and then implement Euro IV norms in 2008. Keeping in mind the fact that, diesel is not immediately substitutable in trucks and also in buses in many cities of India, it is more important to implement Euro III not later than 2002 and then Euro IV by 2005 to catch up with Europe. Diesel run buses and trucks are the one of the most polluting segments.

Society for Indian Automobile manufacturers (SIAM) in their future road map have proposed the following:

Passenger cars
April 1, 2003: Euro III norms for approval of sample model
April 1 2004: Euro III norms for all passenger cars
2006: Euro IV for approval of sample model
2007: Euro IV norms for all car models

Multiutility vehicles
October 1, 2000: Euro II norms for all metros
April 1, 2002: Euro II norms for the whole country

Instead of meeting Euro III norms they will meet Euro IV norms straightaway in 2008

Heavy duty vehicles
April 1 2002: Euro II norms for sample model
April 1, 2003: Euro II norms for all vehicles

Instead of meeting of Euro III norms they will meet Euro IV norms straightaway.

April 1, 2007: For approval of sample model for Euro IV
April 1, 2008: Euro IV norms for all vehicles.

Two and three wheelers
2005: To upgrade the emission standards Thereafter, to study the feasibility of further improvements of two wheeler technology and accordingly improve standards in 2009.

The starkest revelation made in the SIAM press conference on Monday was that the two wheelers industry has probably reached the limit of technology improvements. While it would be possible for them to improve the technology just one notch higher in 2005 over the current India 2000 norms thereafter they would need to undertake a technical feasibility study to assess further improvements possible. While the Indian two wheeler industry boasts that they meet the most stringent emission norms for two-wheelers and that there is no precedent to follow, it remains unaware that it is Switzerland that meets emission levels about half of what the Indian Industry is meeting today with two stroke technology and catalytic converters.

Unfortunately, despite Court rulings to phase in alternate fuels as fast as possible the industry action agenda still does not have any clear-cut programmes for switching to zero emission vehicles like battery-operated two and three-wheelers or committing certain proportion of their production to it.

Any suggestion to forward deadlines for tighter norms were set aside by the industry panel in the press conference on the grounds that it would need huge investments. Yet their "proactive agenda" does not include any policy recommendation to the government to put in place fiscal incentives for them to make the change over financially feasible.