The International Council on Clean Transportation has written to minister of state for petroleum and natural gas Dharmendra Pradhan, recommending India skip Euro V fuel norms and move directly to Euro VI in 2020.
Supporting its proposal with white papers, ICCT has argued that moving to Euro VI is better strategy because “its air quality and public health benefits far exceed costs and fully justify the investment in producing ultra-low-content sulphur fuel” and because the measure “will have greater economic benefits in terms of lives protected from pollution-related health impacts”.
The Auto Fuel Policy Committee for 2025 has recommended Euro V be implemented by April 2020 and Euro VI by April 2024. But ICCT has highlighted that implementing Euro V may not address high emission of nitrogen oxides from heavy duty vehicles-linked to emphysema, bronchitis and heart disease.
ICCT’s white paper that has assessed the effectiveness of Euro V globally also highlights that “for heavy duty vehicles Euro V standards have not achieved hoped-for reduction of nitrogen oxide emissions”.
Also, Euro VI standards lower PM emissions by 67 per cent compared to Euro IV and Euro V. They allow for use of diesel particulate filters. DPFs have been used to meet PM standards for heavy duty vehicles sold in the US since 2007 and have proved to be very effective in reducing ultra-fine pollution particles, air toxics and black carbon.
As of now, Delhi and 12 other cities in India adhere to Euro IV fuel norms while the rest of the country is on Euro III.
Heavy duty vehicles from other states plying via Delhi use Euro III fuel which adds to the capital’s pollution burden. After Delhi’s alarmingly poor air quality made headlines this year and World Health Organization (WHO)ranked it first among the 1,600 most polluted cities, research and civil society groups have been demanding India move to Euro VI fuel norms.
Since the National Green Tribunal (NGT) outlawed vehicles in Delhi that are over 15 years old in a bid to curb air pollution, no move has been made to implement the ban. One of ICCT’s recommendations is also a scrappage programme for heavy duty commercial vehicles, which may address the automobile industry’s concerns about the impact of implementing Euro VI on vehicle sales.
In a recent affidavit in Supreme Court, the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers has claimed it cannot produce Euro V-compliant vehicles until 2020-2021 and has not committed to any deadline regarding manufacture of Euro VI-compliant ones.
ICCT has suggested implementing a five-year programme (2020-2024) to scrap older commercial vehicles and buses which will allow owners to gradually adjust to higher vehicle costs while reaping air-quality benefits. Heavy duty vehicle owners can get a subsidy to replace their older, still-operational, Bharat I, II or III vehicle with a new Bharat VI vehicle at the price of a Bharat V-equivalent.
However, such a programme will only benefit the auto industry, environmentalist Sunita Narain says. “Very stringent on-road inspection to ensure that polluting vehicles are phased out can have the same impact. Almost every vehicle passes through pollution check. The automobile industry will obviously love a scrappage policy, but I think we can manage with on-road enforcement,” she said.
