Delhi Govt Set To Ban Leaded Petrol
The Delhi government is preparing a notification that is expected to ban the use of leaded petrol by passenger vehicles in Delhi. This will make the Delhi government the first among the states and Union territories to take such a step.
The move follows Association of Indian Automobile Manufacturers' (AIAM) submission to the surface transport ministry that all passenger vehicles, including those not fitted with catalytic converters, can use unleaded petrol. This has ended a two-year debate within the association on whether catalytic converters are essential for the use of unleaded petrol.
AIAM has, however, attached a condition to its submission. It has said that mandatory use of unleaded petrol should be enforced only after making it easily available. The association has also said that oil supplying companies must ensure that the level of benzene and other aromatic substances in unleaded petrol does not exceed their level in leaded petrol which is being supplied now.
An AIAM study has shown that scooters will have to shift to catalytic converters or four-stroke engines if they are to meet the year 2000 emission norms.
The domestic automobile industry had long been divided on the use of unleaded petrol, with a section saying that catalytic converters were imperative if a vehicle was to use lead-free fuel.
The issue came into focus at AIAM's annual general meeting two years ago, following the association's discussions with the government on ways to meet the emission norms set for year 2000.
The government has set strict emission norms for year 2000, which are equivalent to `Euro-I' level prevalent in Europe for various pollutants like nox, carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide and other particulate matters.
AIAM had sought technical opinion from scientists and automobile research organisations on the possibility of meeting the norms without having to use catalytic converters, which the government then had suggested should be made mandatory.
The view at that time was that the norms could not be met without catalytic converters, since vehicles not fitted with them could not take unleaded petrol. But a section in the industry demanded that the government insist only on the industry meeting the norms and leave it to the industry to find the ways of meeting them.
Subsequently, the government made unleaded petrol available in certain major cities which, however, was used only by newer vehicles which were fitted with catalytic converters.
Discussions regarding the emission norms for year 2005 are still on.