Bharat Emission Standards

 

What is Bharat Emission Standards

These are the standards set up by the Indian government which specify the amount of air pollutants from internal combustion engines, including those that vehicles can emit. If these emit more pollutants than the prescribed limit, they don’t get a clearance to be sold in an open market.

Bharat Stage Emission Standards have been instituted by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), instituted within the Ministry of Environment Forests and Climate Change.

The first Indian emission regulations were idle emission limits which became effective in 1989.

These idle emission regulations were soon replaced by mass emission limits for both gasoline (1991) and diesel (1992) vehicles, which were gradually tightened during the 1990s.

Since the year 2000, India started adopting European emission and fuel regulations for four-wheeled light-duty and for heavy-duty vehicles

The National Auto Fuel Policy, announced on October 6, 2003, envisioned a phased program for introducing Euro 2-4 emission and fuel regulations by 2010.

In order to establish limits beyond Bharat Stage IV, the Indian Planning Commission established an Expert Committee in 2013 to draft an updated Auto Fuel Policy, Auto Fuel Vision and Policy 2025, that was published in May 2014.

Implementation schedule of EU emission standards in India

Standard	Reference	Date	Region
India 2000	Euro 1	2000	Nationwide
Bharat Stage II	Euro 2	2001	NCR, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai
		2003.04	NCR, 11 cities
		2005.04	Nationwide
Bharat Stage III	Euro 3	2005.04	NCR, 11 cities
		2010.04	Nationwide
Bharat Stage IV	Euro 4	2010.04	NCR, 13 cities
		2015.07	Above plus 29 cities mainly in the states of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Maharastra
		2015.10	North India plus bordering districts of Rajasthan (9 States)
		2016.04	Western India plus parts of South and East India (10 States and Territories)
		2017.04	Nationwide
Bharat Stage V	Euro 5	N/A
Bharat Stage VI	Euro 6	2020.04	Nationwide

SALIENT FEATURES OF BHARAT STAGE IV V VI

According to the norms laid down by the Central Government of India, the automotive industry in the country transitioned from BS4 to BS6 from 1st April 2020. BS6 or Bharat Stage 6 (or BS-VI) is the 6th iteration of the emission norm standardised and monitored by the Ministry of Environment and Climate change.

BS4 vs BS6: What is the BS6 norm?

Bharat Stage standards are based on the European (Euro) emission norms, a globally revered standard of vehicular pollution control measures. BS6 or Bharat Stage 6 standard is at par with the Euro 6 emission norms.

BS4 vs BS6: Why did we switch from BS4 to BS6?

Six among the top ten most polluted cities in the world are from India. The severity of air pollution in the country has worsened over time, and greenhouse emission from the motor vehicles largely contribute to the cause. Realising that something has to be done, the Central Government decided to skip one emission norm (BS5) to better be late than sorry.

BS4 vs BS6: Key differences between BS4 and BS6

The country shifted from BS4 (BS-IV) to more stringent BS6 (BS-VI) norms. But how do they differ from each other? Let’s take a look.

·         A new BS6 compliant engine now powers new cars and motorcycles

·         BS6 compliant motor vehicles run on more refined BS6 fuel

·         BS6 engines exhaust less volume of harmful gases (nitrous oxide, carbon dioxide, and other greenhouse gases)

·         The combination of hydrocarbon and NOx (nitrous oxide) has declined by 43% in the BS6 diesel engines exhausts

·         The BS6 engines running on BS6 fuel produce 50% less the volume of Particulate Matter (both PM2.5 and PM10)

·         The BS6 compliant diesel cars come equipped with Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) to filter the exhaust fume

·         The sulphur content in the BS6-grade fuel has significantly been reduced to 10 PPM (Parts Per Million) compared to the 50 PPM in the BS4-grade fuel; an 80% decline in the PPM volume

·         BS6 vehicles come with built-in Onboard Diagnostic (OD) feature

Difference Between BS4 and BS6

Presently the BS6 or Bharat Stage VI emission norms are in place and every vehicle or engine manufactured from April 1 2020 should emit:

Fuel Type	Pollutant Gases	BS6 (BSVI)	BS6 (BSIV)
Petroleum Distillate Vehicle	Nitrogen Oxide (NOx) Limit	60 mg	80 mg
	Particulate Matter (PM) Limit	4.5 mg/km	-
Diesel Fuel Vehicle	Nitrogen Oxide (NOx) Limit	80 mg	250 mg
	Particulate Matter (PM) Limit	4.5 mg/km	25 mg
	HC + NOx	170 mg/km	300 mg