Abstract:

The Bharat Stage (BS) VI emission standards announced in September 2016 with an ambitious deadline of April 1, 2020. India is the first to leapfrog from Euro IV-equivalent emission standards directly to Euro VI-equivalent standards, and there were many doubts and questions: Could refineries produce enough ultralow-sulfur fuel, which is necessary for BS-VI vehicles, to supply the entire country? Could Indian automaker make their vehicles BS-VI compliant by April 1, 2020? Would consumers be willing to pay for the more expensive BS-VI vehicles? 

However, India turned the challenge into an opportunity and completed its mission of producing BS VI-compliant fuel and vehicles on time, Coronavirus notwithstanding. 

All in all, this blogpost by ICCT explains how a seemingly impossible mission (fewer than five years ago) has been accomplished. The job of reducing air pollution from the transport sector is not done, though, and today there’s doubt about the potential for vehicle electrification that resembles the prior doubts about BS-VI.