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Fuels & Lubes International Quarter Two 2016
a strategy in meeting FE
norms, but a negative sen-
timent for diesel cars is
being propelled by public
litigations.
For diesel vehicles, the
after-treatment options
include diesel oxidation
catalysts, diesel particu-
late filters, exhaust gas
recirculation, lean NOx
traps and selective cata-
lytic reduction. For petrol
engines, direct injection
technology, as well as
three-way catalytic reduc-
tions are the main options.
“We have to fast-track all
these adaptations,” said
Ramakumar, because of
the small window before
2020. These devices all de-
pend on low-sulphur fuels
and lubricants because
high levels of sulphur
and ash can plug partic-
ulate filters. According to
Ramakumar, many global
OEMs in India are working
on the necessary BS VI
technology for vehicles. “I
think that people will go
for the less space-inten-
sive options in passenger
cars,” such as lean NOx
traps, he said.
Sharma pointed out that
urea infrastructure, which
is most favoured for im-
plementing fuel-efficient
SCR technology for NOx
reduction for heavy-du-
ty trucks and buses, is
currently lagging in India.
As India debates the
fuel economy norms for
heavy-duty vehicles, OEMs
will certainly opt for urea
based-SCR which was not
considered seriously for
BS IV due to lack of urea
infrastructure.
Skipping BS V makes
sense because Europe
has seen several short-
comings to Euro V during
its rollout. Chief among
these shortcomings was
underwhelming reduc-
tions of NOx emissions.
According to the Interna-
tional Council on Clean
Transportation (ICCT),
many of the problems with
Euro V were addressed
with Euro VI, so “Indian
policymaking on vehicles
and fuels should exploit
lessons learned in the
European market.” Since
heavy-duty vehicles espe-
cially have a long lifetime,
it makes sense to imple-
ment the standards that
will give economic benefits
far into the future—“the
early adoption of Bharat VI
standards will continue to
generate emission reduc-
tions and corresponding
reduction in premature
mortality well into 2040s,”
the ICCT report said.
Sharma said that the In-
dian government is working
on a vehicle scrap policy
and a draft will be sent out
for stakeholders’ comment
before implementation.
The latest thinking on the
scrap policy is to automati-
cally de-register all private
vehicles older than 15 years
and it would be left to state
governments to either
re-register with fitness
checks or allow scrapping.
India is very much a “die-
selised” economy, Rama-
kumar said. Diesel-engine
cars outnumber petrol-en-
gine cars by about 3.7:1.
But, he said, “maybe two
years back, this ratio used
to be 4:1 or above.” Petrol
growth is there, he said,
and will continue through
the next five years. “This is
what all the world energy
surveys are also show-
ing,” he said. Statistics
from India's Ministry of
Petroleum and Natural
Gas show that between
2003 and 2015, petrol
consumption grew annu-
ally at 8.4%, while diesel
consumption grew 5.9%.
India is an oil-con-
suming nation, depend-
ing heavily on imports,
which is another reason
why skipping Euro V
makes sense. Ramaku-
mar said that according
to rough calculations,
just a 1% reduction in
fuel consumption could
save about INR 9,000
crore (USD 1.323 billion)
in crude oil imports. The
move to BS VI will also
help India’s goals to re-
duce its GDP emissions
intensity by 33-35%
below 2005 levels by
2030, which it had set
during the COP21 forum
in Paris last December.
It also aims to achieve
40% cumulative electric
power installed capac-
ity from non-fossil fuel
sources. According to
BP’s Statistical Review
of World Energy, oil cur-
rently accounts for 28%
of India’s energy use
and coal 57%. The road
toward more energy in-
dependence and reduced
fossil fuel consumption
is a long one, but India
seems to be taking the
right steps by leap-
frogging to BS VI and
adopting fuel economy
standards for passenger
cars. India also plans to
implement fuel economy
norms for heavy-duty
trucks and buses.
