Delhi to Get BS6 Fuel from April 1, 2018, BS6 Fuel Effect on BS4 Cars
While it’s only recently that every corner of India embraced BS4 emission norms from BS3, Delhi is already looking all set to jump to BS6 emission norms. Yes, India will skip on BS5 and will directly jump to BS6. However, in order to control the rapidly increasing pollution levels, Delhi-NCR will see the introduction of BS6-compatible fuel from April 1, 2018 onwards. In this post, we will discuss BS6 Fuel Effect on BS4 Cars.
It won’t be compulsory for car and bike manufacturers to launch BS6-compliant vehicles by April 1 deadline. However, the capital will have only BS6 fuel on sale from the next financial year. This will bring down the sulphur level in fuel by many times and hence, slow down the resultant environmental degradation.
Delhi to Get BS6 Fuel from April 1, 2018
Delhi has been experiencing a really dangerously high level of pollution in recent years. The situation is so bad that the administration has been forced to shut down schools and even resort to practices such as the odd-even scheme. However, there is almost no improvement in the situation and the authorities need to take some big steps to curb the pollution level. One such move to reduce pollution is the early introduction of BS6 fuels. Hence, the Government will launch BS6 fuels in Delhi ahead of the previous deadline of April 1, 2020, and from April 1, 2018. So, basically, the date has been preponed by exactly two years.
BS6 Fuel Effect on BS4 Cars
The sulphur content in BS6 fuels is nothing if you compare it with BS4 fuels. BS4 fuels have a sulphur value of 500 ppm, which is far more than the 10 ppm in BS6 fuels. Hence, emissions will be soon much lower, which should help the air become cleaner. If you look at the BS6 fuel effect on BS4 cars, there might be some fine tuning required from the manufacturer’s end. Actually, sulphur helps in lubrication of injectors of Diesel engines. Hence, low sulphur content might pose higher wear and tear of components in Diesel motors. A similar effect was seen when cars switched to BS4 emission norms from BS3. .
Actually, it’s not compulsory for automakers to make changes in the engine by April 1, 2018. This is something which is a bit worrying, as a higher wear and tear will definitely take a toll on the engine. At the moment, we can only hope that the manufacturers take notice of this and make required changes in the hardware. That said, there are some companies, like Mercedes, BMW, Audi, Volvo, and Jaguar Land Rover, which have BS6-ready cars in their lineup. These will definitely benefit from the switch to BS6 fuels. Other manufacturers will hopefully follow suit. The companies can rather test BS6 cars in real world conditions in Delhi before the entire country needs to switch to BS6 in 2020.
Auto Manufacturers Response on BS6 Fuel
Dr Abhay Firodia in his role as the President of the Society Of Automotive Manufacturers (SIAM) said “The early introduction of BS VI fuel gives confidence to the Auto Industry that BS VI Fuel will be available across the country from 1st April 2020, when the Auto Industry will fully migrate to manufacturing only BS VI compliant vehicles on a pan India basis. Availability of BS VI fuel in Delhi from April 2018 also gives an opportunity to the vehicle manufacturers in this region to test and validate the BS VI vehicles being developed by the auto industry so as to be fully ready for the April 2020 deadline. Use of BS VI fuel with lower sulphur content may also improve the particulate emissions from the existing fleet of vehicles which are presently plying in the National Capital to some extent. In addition, if the Government also effectively enforces the order to remove old BS II and earlier vintage vehicles from plying in the National Capital, it would greatly reduce the contribution of vehicular pollution in the Region.”
R.S. Kalsi Senior Executive Director, Sales & Marketing of India’s largest automaker, Maruti Suzuki said, “Well I am yet to go through that report but these solutions will not help, I think one has to take an integrated entire view on these challenges of pollution and you know when we are talking about BS VI, industry needs time to gear up to that because that calls for big changes , engines in particularly and then the availability of that fuel needs to be across the country.” He added by saying, “The deadline that the government has given for BS VI, we are working towards that and it calls for big changes in the engine so we are working towards that deadline but any pre-ponement will not be possible. The amount of work involved in doing those changes is humongous and it becomes all the more difficult when you have such a widespread portfolio.”
Rakesh Srivastava, Director Sales &Marketing, Hyundai Motor India Limited said, “We are ready with the technology, however, certification and regulatory approvals will take time since as an industry we were working towards meeting the 2020 deadline, for the adoption of BS VI compliant vehicles.”
Jnaneswar Sen, Sr VP, Marketing and Sales, Honda Cars India Ltd responded to the move by the Ministry Of Petroleum And Natural Gas today saying, “We welcome the decision of Petroleum ministry to supply BS – VI fuel in Delhi from April 2018. Availability of BS-VI fuel ahead of BS-VI emission norms implementation will be a strong enabler for the auto industry’s ongoing development and testing activities. This is a step in the right direction and gives us confidence that the auto industry will be able to smoothly transition to BS-VI regime from April 2020. Honda is currently pursuing development and testing of BS-VI engines with related parties including Honda R&D Japan and our component suppliers, both local and overseas. We are committed to meet the schedule of BS-VI implementation stipulated by Govt. of India.”
So, what’s your take on BS6 Fuel Effect on BS4 Cars and Delhi to Get BS6 Fuel from April 1, 2018? Share your views with us by penning them down in the comments section below.