BS IV norms to cover entire nation from April 2017

Move from BS III to IV is supposed to bring down the particulate matter from cars to half

Bringing clarity to the expansion of Bharat Stage-IV (BS-IV) emission norms, the government on Tuesday said only passenger vehicles complying with the BS-IV norms can be sold in seven states from October. The notified norm would become applicable in the rest of the country from April 1, 2017, according to a government statement. The move from BS-III to -IV is supposed to halve the particulate matter from cars (0.0250 g per km) and reduce pollution.

BS-IV will be implemented in Goa, Kerala, Karnataka, Telangana, Odisha, Daman and Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Andaman and Nicobar Islands, districts of Mumbai, Thane and Pune in Maharashtra and four districts of Gujarat from April 2016.

BS-IV was first implemented from April 2010 in the national capital region and Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Secunderabad, Kanpur, Pune, Surat, Agra, Lucknow and Solapur. Twenty additional cities were added from October 2014 and 30 more cities were included from April 2015.

The Auto Fuel Vision & Policy 2025, spelt out in 2014, had outlined that by April 2019, north Indian states would graduate to BS-V and in another year, BS-V would be implemented across the country. It also recommended the adoption of BS-VI norms after a gap of five years — in April 2024. However, this has not been notified by the government so far.