Sulphur levels to drop by 80% from BS-IV to BS-VI
Mr. Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister for Petroleum & Natural Gas, has said that it has been decided to proactively advance the roll-out of BS-VI fuel in Delhi from April 2018 instead of April 2020, after taking stock of the alarming pollution situation in the capital in winters. BS-VI fuel will bring down sulphur by five times from the current BS-IV levels. This is an 80 per cent reduction which makes it extremely clean. It will further improve emissions from the existing fleet, and even from the older vehicles on road.
The Minister disclosed this at the launch BS VI-compliant automotive fuels in Delhi. He also said that BS-VI is as clean as or even cleaner than CNG in some respects and it is proposed to extend the availability of these fuels across the country by April 1, 2020.
According to by the Centre for Science & Environment study, air pollution takes 10,000-30,000 lives in Delhi every year. It is believed that early migration to BS-VI fuels in the National Capital will help in saving thousands of precious lives by bringing down vehicular pollution significantly.
He further said that to take full advantage of the availability of such superior fuels, the vehicle technology has to move to BS-VI. Introduction of BS-VI fuel will only give partial benefits if BS VI-compliant vehicles are not put on the road. “I am told that our auto-companies are already making BS-VI cars in India and exporting them to developed countries. I am sure they can also do so for our own country.”
Appealing to all automobile manufacturers to start selling BS-VI vehicles wherever BS-VI fuel is available, Mr. Pradhan observed that the Ministry is trying to contribute towards solving the problem of pollution due to agricultural stubble burning and other causes by implementing 2G Ethanol plants, increasing the share of gas in the primary energy basket from 6% to 15%, initiating the 9th Gas Development Bidding Round, unbundling of the gas sector to promote gas-based economy and other measures for cleaner fuel.
With the introduction of BS-VI, India joins the small list of Asia-Pacific nations – Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, Philippines and China. China is using it only for heavy vehicles, he added.
Ms. Sunita Narain, Director-General, Centre for Science & Environment (CSE), praised the Government for its proactive step in introducing the BS-VI grade fuels ahead of its scheduled timeline.