Home New Emission Norms from 1st April 2005   The announcement of Bharat Stage III (BS III) norms for vehicles is a welcome and positive step, said Jagdish Khattar, President, SIAM, while responding to the notification issued by the Department of Road Transport & Highways, Government of India. The BS III emission norms for all new four wheelers sold in 11 major cities will come into effect from 1st April 2005. SIAM members are ready, with almost all variants of all models complying with BS III norms, Khattar added. He said, "SIAM is committed to growth of the Indian automobile industry with minimum impact on the environment. In line with that, we had presented a roadmap for adoption of stringent emission norms in the future. The Government's announcement at this juncture provides a definite direction on reducing emission and is in line with National Auto Fuel Policy." Complimenting T R Baalu, Union Minister of Shipping Road Transport & Highways, the SIAM President said, "Vehicles need to be tested for the new norms and certified before mass production. Any delay in the notification would have hampered the process and delayed delivery of vehicles to customers after the new norms came into force." This notification of the new norms would now enable manufacturers to get their vehicles certified and distributed to the market so that they will be available for customers from 1st April 2005. New BS III petrol cars will be emitting about 28% lower emission than current BS II cars and 89% lower than cars manufactured in 1991. Similarly, given the stringent standards these cars have to meet, there will be a reduction in emission of about 30% in new diesel BS III cars compared to BS II cars and 72% lower than ones produced in 1992. The fuel quality and specifications will also be upgraded in line with new vehicular emission norms. Eleven major cities having high air pollution levels and accounting for a significant percentage of existing vehicles and sales of new vehicles had been brought under a separate road map for quicker adoption of emission norms. The new vehicles sold in the rest of the country will also shift to Bharat II norms, moving away from India 2000 (Euro 1 equivalent) norms from 1st April 2005. The Auto Industry has invested over Rs. 25,000 crores for upgrading to Bharat Stage III technology. The notification for new vehicles, coupled with the new norms for in-use vehicles, which have come into effect from 1st October 2004, will significantly reduce emission from the transport sector.