CAFE-2 Regulations and BS-VI Stage II Norms

• 11 Jan 2021

Why in News

The auto industry has requested the government to defer the implementation of Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency (CAFE-2) regulations and BS-VI stage II norms to April 2024, given the impact of the lockdown measures.

• As of now, the CAFE-2 norms and BS-VI stage II norms are set to come into effect in 2022 and April 2023 respectively.

Key Points

• Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency (CAFE-2) Regulations:
  
  • About:
    
    • CAFE or Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency/Economy regulations are in force in many advanced as well as developing nations, including India.
    • They aim at lowering fuel consumption (or improving fuel efficiency) of vehicles by lowering Carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions, thus serving the twin purposes of reducing dependence on oil for fuel and controlling pollution.
    • Corporate Average refers to sales-volume weighted average for every auto manufacturer. The idea of CAFÉ is to push manufacturers to achieve fuel efficiency targets by producing and selling more fuel-efficient models, including electric vehicles
  • Launch in India:
    
    • The CAFÉ standards were first notified in 2017 by the Union Ministry of Power (MoP) under Energy Conservation Act, 2001.
      
      • The regulation is in accordance with the fuel consumption standards of 2015 that aim to increase fuel efficiency of vehicles road by 35% by 2030.
    • The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) is the nodal agency responsible for monitoring and reporting a summary of annual fuel consumption by automobile manufacturers at the end of each fiscal year.
    • The regulation was introduced in two target phases: Carbon dioxide emission target of 130 gram/kilometre by 2022-23 and 113 g/km 2022-23 onwards.
  • Applicability:
    
    • The norms are applicable for petrol, diesel, Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) and Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) passenger vehicles.
• BS-VI Stage II Norms:
  
  • Bharat Stage (BS) emission standards are laid down by the government to regulate the output of air pollutants from internal combustion engine and spark-ignition engine equipment, including motor vehicles.
  • These standards are targeted at making improvements in three areas - emission control, fuel efficiency and engine design.
  • The central government has mandated that vehicle makers must manufacture, sell and register only BS-VI (BS6) vehicles from 1^st April, 2020.
    
    • BS-VI is equivalent to Euro-VI norms currently in place across countries in Europe.
  • As per BS-VI emission norms, petrol vehicles will have to effect a 25% reduction in their NOx, or nitrogen oxide emissions. Diesel engines will have to reduce their HC+NOx (hydro carbon + nitrogen oxides) by 43%, their NOx levels by 68% and particulate matter levels by 82%.
  • Sulphur content in fuel is a major cause for concern. BS-VI fuel's sulphur content is much lower than BS-IV fuel. It is reduced to 10 mg/kg max in BS-VI from 50 mg/kg under BS-IV.
  • Some of the measures to be introduced from 2023 onwards include deciding the confirmatory factor for in-service compliance, market surveillance and independent verification testing of in-use vehicles by regulatory authorities, adoption of more stringent driving cycle for emissions testing, public disclosure of emissions data by the manufacturers on publicly accessible websites, and on-board fuel consumption meters among others.

Source: IE