BS IV and BS VI norms

• Bringing an end to a segment that accounts for almost a quarter of its total sales, Maruti Suzuki announced that it will stop selling diesel cars next year.
• Industry experts and company sources said that the company’s decision to stop sales of diesel cars is in line with the mandatory upgrade for auto makers from BS-IV to BS-VI beginning April 1, 2020.
• In the wake of rising pollution levels, the Supreme Court had said that March 31, 2020, would be the last date for the registration of BS-IV compliant vehicles.

Bharat Stage Norms:

• These are emission control standards introduced by government in 2000 to check air pollution.
• These are based on the European regulations (Euro norms).
• They set limits for release of air pollutants from equipment using internal combustion engines, including vehicles.
• Typically, the higher the stage, the more stringent the norms.

BS IV norms:

• The BS IV norms were introduced in 13 cities apart from the National Capital Region from April 2010 onwards. According to the roadmap, the entire nation was covered under BS IV by April 1, 2017.
• BS IV norms stipulate only 50 parts per million sulphur compared with up to 350 parts per million under BS III. Also, hydrocarbon, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide and particulate matter emissions are lower under BS IV.

BS VI norms:

• India is lagging behind even after implementation of BS IV norms. To compensate for this, BS V standards will be skipped and BS VI norms are proposed to come in by April 2020.
• Vehicles must be fitted with DPF (diesel particulate filter) for Particulate Matter (PM) reduction. It is a cylindrical object mounted vertically inside the engine compartment.
• Vehicles also have to be equipped with an SCR (selective catalytic reduction) module to reduce oxides of nitrogen.
• To attain the specified super low emissions, all reactions have to be precise, and controlled by microprocessors.
• Manufacturers will also need to make petrol engines more fuel-efficient as CO emission levels will also need to be controlled. This may lead to a shift towards gasoline direct injection engines.
• Engine downsizing will get big thrust. Smaller engines means lower fuel consumption, especially at lower speeds where most cars spend most of their times.
• Hybrids will get more and more popular, as this is a good way to cut down on emissions, maintain performance levels and boost fuel economy.

BS VI norms will have more impact on diesel vehicles than petrol ones:

• It will be easier for petrol engines to meet BS VI emission standards engine mapping along with some exhaust after-treatment, the diesel cars will need a whole new type of technology in order to reduce emissions.
• These new add-ons are said to increase the prices of diesel cars and increase the gap between a new petrol car and a new diesel car by nearly 2.5 lakh rupees.
• The increase in cost will mainly be because of the fact that new diesel cars will have to add several new layers into the diesel after treatment such as a DPF or a Diesel Particulate Filter and more importantly, the SCR system or Selective Catalytic Reduction system.