Skip Euro V, India’s road transport minister tells local automakers

India’s Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari has asked local automakers to switch to Euro VI emission norms at the earliest, skipping Euro V altogether, in the country’s bid to improve air quality in some of the world’s most polluted cities.

The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) recently has asked the government for an extension to comply with Euro V and Euro VI emission norms. Previously, SIAM has stated that compressing the timeframe for applying the stringent emission norms could risk putting inadequately validated technology on Indian roads.

The government has indicated that it will not extend the timeframe for the adoption of Bharat Stage (BS) IV norms, which are equivalent to Euro IV, nationwide. Only 33 cities in India have adopted BS IV norms, while the rest of the country are still on the less stringent BS III norms. The government has made it clear that starting October, only BS IV-compliant vehicles will be allowed to be sold in seven states. BS IV emission norms will come into effect pan-India by April 1, 2017.

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