Over the years, several measures have been introduced to curb pollution levels and cut down vehicular emissions. One significant step was the decision to skip one level of regulation and move directly from BS 4/IV to BS 6/VI norms, which are equivalent to their respective European versions. However, air pollution problem continues to linger around. The question is why? When Europe and other parts of the world have been successful in bringing down their pollution levels significantly, why can’t we?
Initiatives taken to improve Delhi’s air quality
The odd-even scheme has been introduced in Delhi for a few times now, since 2016. Recently in 2019, approximately 3 lakh diesel and 2 lakh petrol vehicles were affected under this scheme causing inconvenience to commuters in the national capital and to those travelling to or from neighboring cities. While reduction in air pollution in Delhi was expected, the data shows otherwise. An analysis of AQI statistics done by India Today Data Intelligence Unit (DIU) in 2020 revealed that Delhi’s air quality did not improve during odd-even.
Another initiative in December 2022 was banning of all BS3/ older petrol vehicles and BS4/ older diesel vehicles to ply on Delhi roads2. The ban, however, was detrimental as Delhi has approximately 10 crore registered vehicles and only 11.2 lakh vehicles are BS6 certified. BS6 was implemented on 1st April 2020, so, anyone who bought a new diesel car on or before 31 March 2020 was not allowed to ply on Delhi roads. While the metro connects to certain parts of Delhi-NCR, the last-mile connectivity is still at a loose end. A recent survey showed that 42% people use private cars to come to office. Here is the finding from the same survey at Udhyog Vihar Industrial area in Gurugram.
These people switch to cabs during the restrictive private car usage periods. As per experience, auto drivers and cab operators take advantage of this situation and charge exorbitantly. This is because there are only 1 lakh taxis (in 2019) in Delhi to support lakhs of the people who become dependent for the door drop service.
If these people take a cab to travel to work in Gurgaon it calls for that added expense. Below is an estimate travel expense for a person travelling from Delhi to Gurgaon per day during odd-even and vehicle ban in Delhi:
| Average one-way cost | INR 500 |
| Two-way travel (to and fro) | INR 1000 |
| Cost of travel in 13 working days in a total of 15 days | INR 13,000 |
This means that a one-time 15 days BS4 (and lesser) vehicular ban in Delhi costs approximately INR 13,000 to a common person. If a vehicle owner does not comply with the ban, they will be fined INR 20,000 per day, per fault.
In order to put things into perspective, Delhi has 3 lakh BS4 diesel vehicles and 2 lakh BS3 petrol vehicles today. If even only 70% of the vehicles need to travel at least one time during the ban,the total expense by Delhiites on cabs would be a whooping INR 35 Crores. The numbers will only get into multiples further if these car owners have to go office on a daily basis during bans.
But why all BS6 vehicles, including Diesel BS6, are allowed to ply?
BS6-compliant diesel vehicles are equipped with advanced particulate filters which trap carbon particles to be released in the air. This technology is a savior – it was also promoted during bad air days to significantly reduce harmful pollutants, with the aim to improve air quality, and to help reduce negative impact on public health and the environment.
In addition to the newly adopted fuel economy and greenhouse gas emission standards, several countries now require more efficient gasoline direct injection (GDi) engine technologies. With the intention to reduce pollution and introduce more fuel-efficient vehicles, The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has issued a notification on 1st July 2022, amending Rule 115 G of the Central Motor Vehicle Rules (CMVR) 1989, to include compliance with Fuel Consumption Standards (FCS), for light, medium and heavy-duty motor vehicles, manufactured in, or imported by, India. Hence, we are seeing a greater uptake of GDi and its adoption into the Indian market. These gasoline vehicles with GDi engine must be equipped with Particulate Filters from BS-VI Stage-2 exhaust norm which came into effect on April 1, 2023. This new norm is only implied to 10% of the current Indian passenger car fleet which has a GDi engine, leaving 70% of petrol cars without filters.
A particulate filter on MPFi vehicles will come with an additional cost of INR 7500 only (for ~1.5L petrol engine) per vehicle. This is only one time investment as against every year expense on cab, saving the common man from the problem of the seasonal vehicle bans and eliminating the entire need of vehicular bans.
Inching toward India’s EV vision yet imperative to address today’s real time challenges
Currently, an ambitious target is set to have an all-electric vehicle fleet by 2030. Several steps have been taken to achieve this goal, including:
- Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles (FAME) scheme: Launched in 2015 to provide incentives for the purchasing electric vehicles.
- Tax benefits: Reduction in the GST rate on electric vehicles from 12% to 5%, making electric vehicles more affordable for consumers.
- Charging infrastructure: Charging stations are being set up across the country to make it easier for electric vehicle owners to recharge their vehicles.
- Manufacturing incentives: Tax benefits and subsidies to companies that set up manufacturing facilities for electric vehicles in India.
The vision of an all-electric vehicle fleet by 2030 will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and contribute to a greener and cleaner environment. However, the adoption of EVs will also depend on factors such as affordability and consumer perception of EVs compared to traditional gasoline-powered vehicles. Along with new stringent emission norms, the Indian market is also witnessing the transition to e-mobility, mainly hybrid and Electric Vehicles (EVs).
According to a technical report published by IIT Kanpur, while the Indian automotive market is booming with healthy EV sales year-on-year, the number of EVs in the long term will still be insignificant vis-à-vis internal combustion engine (ICE)vehicles. As per the current growth of EVs, the number of EVs in 2030 will be insignificant (compared to the total fleet). Also, by 2050 the share of EVs is estimated to be 17 – 33% of total cars. While EVs will be most sought after, gasoline vehicles will still be sold after 2030 and a significant proportion of cars on the road will be running on a gasoline engine. Therefore, the real-time impact of EV penetration, from a pollution reduction standpoint, will not be realized anytime soon.
Trying to find the answer to common man’s situation
“EV segment will grow, but India will continue to be an ICE market”, quoted by Soumitra Bhattacharya, President & MD, Bosch Limited, in an interview.
A recent study conducted proves that Particulate Filters have the capability of reducing even smaller particulates (PM 2.5 and PM 10) pollutants to very low level and quite consistently irrespective of the Air Quality Index the vehicle is exposed to. This implies that particulate filters on vehicles have the ability to clean even the existing environmental air. Additionally, Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) issued a notification dated 1st February 2022 which lays out guidelines for emissions by using pollution controlling kits, called Retro-fit emission control devices, for old diesel generator sets currently in use in our towns and cities. It testifies that retro-fit can be looked at as an option to existing smoke (particulate) emitters.
Further to four-wheelers, two-wheelers hold a considerable place having the highest numbers in India, approximately over 21 crore. To put things into perspective, a study done by NEERI shows that particulate emissions from two-wheelers are ~11% of the total transport sector, which is even more than four-wheelers (cars and cabs) which stands at ~6%. Hence, this segment cannot be left out of discussion13.
Finally, the fact that EVs and ICEs will co-exist in the near future, has been acknowledged by everyone now. While we are on our path to deliver affordable EVs with a strong ecosystem to support it, We are almost forgetting the fact that an ICE petrol vehicle sold today (in 2023) is here to stay for the next 15 years, i.e., on road and emitting particulates till 2038. So, a common person, who is incurring “the cost of ban” every year and wants to reduce the impact on the environment, needs an out of the box solution while waiting for the EVs to become affordable.
The primary option is mandating particulate filters for all new petrol vehicles equipped with MPFi engines to make all petrol vehicles clean so that a new vehicle purchased does not have to see any restrictive movement days and we come out of ‘banning vehicles vicious cycle’. In addition, the vehicles which are already on the road need to be made fitter for commencing on roads, i.e., their exhaust needs to be made cleaner. A measure mandating retro-fitment of particulate filter is required as a one-time upgradation of all existing, two wheelers and four wheelers, to a BS6/VI phase-II level regulation
Disclaimer: Niranjan Raje is Member CAPR; Former Director R & D IOC; Former Member EPCA; and Former Member Environment Appraisal Committee (EAC).
References
1. NO.F.3 (218)/MRTS/Tpt./2015/8 http://dtc.delhi.gov.in/sites/default/files/odd_even.pdf, https://www.carandbike.com/news/around-1-million-diesel-vehicles-could-be-banned-in-the-delhi-ncr-region-if-aqi-crosses-450-3200532
2. Press Trust of India: Delhi govt bans plying of BS-III petrol, BS-IV diesel four-wheelers (ptinews.com)
3. What’s stopping Gurgaon from being another Copenhagen? – Citizen Matters
4. India: registered number of taxis in Delhi 1988-2021 | Statista
5. Delhi Bans BS4 Diesel, BS3 Petrol Vehicles Till Friday As Air Quality Dips (ndtv.com)
6. All petrol and diesel BS3/BS4 vehicles banned in Delhi (cartoq.com)
7. ICCT paper: GFPworkingpaper2011.pdf (theicct.org)
8. National Automotive Board (NAB) (heavyindustries.gov.in)
9. Mukesh Sharma, PhD, and Anurag Shakya Department of Civil Engineering Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Prognosis on the Indian gasoline cars and two-wheelers and application of Gasoline Particulate Filter (GPF) to minimize particulate emissions.
10. Bosch India will grow by 15-20% this year: President Bhattacharya – The Hindu BusinessLine
11. PowerPoint Presentation (ecmaindia.in)
12. RECD_Procedure_Revised.pdf (cpcb.nic.in)
13. Technical Review – India Accounts (ecmaindia.in)
