Only BS-IV cars to be sold from 2017

In a further tightening of emission norms across the country, the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways has just announced that all four-wheelers manufactured from April, 2017 shall have to be BS-IV compliant.

The government has been ramping up the availability of BS-IV compliant fuel across the country, since the start of the decade. BS-IV fuel was first sold in the NCR, with key cities including metros like Mumbai and Bangalore being among the first to introduce the emissions compliant fuel. Since then, over 20 cities joined the BS-IV fuel movement last year, with 30 more added in 2015.

With vehicular adoption on the rise across the country, the availability of cleaner fuel and cars that are BS-IV compliant shall go a long way in reducing the environmental impact. Air quality continues to remain a growing concern in many quarters, and the auto manufacturing industry remains committed towards doing their bit in reducing their emissions footprint.

The shift from Bharat Stage III to Bharat Stage IV emission norms is expected to bring down the Carbon Mono-oxide (CO) levels as well as Hydrocarbon (HC) + Oxides of Nitrogen & Sulphur (NOx & SOx) by half. How these new norms are going to affect the plans of car manufacturers and their engine development road-maps is something that shall be interesting to see. One thing is for sure though, car buyers as well as the environment are both going to emerge as winners out of this.