Ministries differ on Euro III date

The cabinet is expected to step in to settle differences between the petroleum and the road transport ministries on introducing the next generation of cleaner vehicles — the Bharat Stage III-compliant automobiles.

Updated on: Apr 16, 2010, 24:22:38 IST

Hindustan Times | By Chetan Chauhan, New Delhi

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The cabinet is expected to step in to settle differences between the petroleum and the road transport ministries on introducing the next generation of cleaner vehicles — the Bharat Stage III-compliant automobiles.

The petroleum ministry has made arrangements to provide Euro III- compliant fuel in half of the country except 13 big cities by June-end. But, the transport ministry recently issued a draft notification, saying Euro III-complaint vehicles will be available to all only after September. The 13 cities switched to Euro-IV mode on April 1.

Euro norms are indicative of fuel’s emission status. Higher the stage, lower is the emission. For instance, Euro-III vehicles emit 38 per cent less pollutants than Euro II-vehicles. Originally, Euro III-vehicles were to be made available from April 1. But, the auto industry wasn’t ready and is pushing for October deadline. On March 31, the transport ministry issued a draft notification proposing further extension.

“It’s shocking that private automobile companies are unable to provide India with better technology and are demanding deadlines be deferred,” said Sunita Narain, director, Centre for Science and Environment.

The petroleum ministry had sought cabinet’s nod to amend the auto fuel policy for providing Euro-III fuel in 16 key states by June-end. The transport ministry opposed it, citing auto industry.

“A uniform date for phasing in Euro-III vehicles would ensure that there is no violation of rules,” said an official, who refused to be identified.

Environmentalists wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, opposing the manufacturers, saying India should not put off introduction of clean technologies.

The cabinet is expected to take a final call after the PM returns from his two-nation tour, said the official.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chetan Chauhan
Chetan Chauhan is the National Affairs Editor looking into all aspects of news and features from across India. A Chevening scholar with over three decades of experience in reporting and news management, Chetan has extensively covered all important aspects of the social sector, political economy, environment and climate change nationally and internationally. He did a journalism course at the Reuters Institute of Journalism in Oxford and Digital Media training at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. He started as a reporter with The Statesman in 1996 and joined the Hindustan Times in 2000 in the metro bureau covering environment, crime and Delhi politics. He covered hot local news, from the Jessica Lal murder case to the rebellion of Delhi Congress MLAs against then Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, to the replacement of toxic vehicle fuel with cleaner compressed natural gas (CNG) in the national capital. Some of his stories on air pollution became part of the Supreme Court’s landmark MC Mehta versus Government of India case in the National Capital Region (NCR), forcing the government to take corrective measures. As part of the national political bureau since 2004, he covered important central sectors such as environment, education, social justice, labour, rural development, water resources, renewable energy, agriculture, broadcasting and the Planning Commission for more than a decade producing several exclusive and investigative breaking stories. His specialisation is the environment, having covered at least a dozen United Nations global conferences on climate change, biodiversity and wildlife including climate summits in Paris, Copenhagen and Bali. He also covered India’s two five-year plans ---11th and 12th and reported on drafting and execution of right based laws such as Right to Education, Right to Information and rural job guarantee law, MG-NREGA, now being introduced in new format as VG-RAM-G Act. He has in-depth knowledge of social sector issues. He was one of the first to report on tigers vanishing from Sariska and Panna wildlife reserves in 2004 and 2008, respectively, leading to the setting up of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the introduction of stringent penal provisions for poaching. He has written extensively on the rising human-animal conflict in India and the degradation of India’s biodiversity hotspots because of mining and other activities. Since 2004, Chetan has covered Parliament comprehensively and participated in training on the nuanced coverage of Parliament proceedings. He has travelled extensively across India to cover national and provincial elections since 1998, especially in the Hindi heartland states, considered India’s road to power. He writes a regular column for Hindustan Times, Ecostani, on important national politics, economy, Himalayan ecology and environmental issues. His other responsibilities include providing inputs for edits and edit page articles for the publication, apart from managing news flow from across India.Read More

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