India to compel carmakers to produce greener vehicles

Welcoming the Indian government’s plan to cut down carbon emission intensity by 20-25% by 2020, India’s automobile industry said it will compel manufacturers to produce greener cars with improved mileage. Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh clarified that carbon emission intensity cut, which was worked out by the Planning Commission and the Twelfth Five-Year Plan, would include a five-step plan of action for mandatory fuel efficiency standards for vehicles by 2011. Most manufacturers, including Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, Ashok Leyland, Bajaj Auto, TVS Motors and Hero Honda are already working on advanced indigenous technologies to build greener vehicles. From April 1, 11 cities, including Mumbai, the National Capital Region (NCR), Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Pune, Surat, Kanpur and Agra would adopt Bharat Stage IV (BS IV) emission norm, while the remaining cities would upgrade to BS III. (December 5, 2009)