India’s fuel efficiency norms may be delayed again

In a move bound to delay the introduction of auto fuel efficiency standards, India’s Road Transport and Highway Minister Kamal Nath has written to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) asking that his ministry be made in-charge of the scheme instead of the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) which is under the Power Ministry. Nath, in his letter, has again reiterated that his ministry could operate the fuel efficiency scheme by labelling the greenhouse gas as a pollutant and bring it under the same regime as fine particulate matter, lead or nitrous oxides. While the PMO had earlier taken a decision in favor of BEE, the road and transport minister’s personal intervention has re-ignited the debate. (May 9, 2010)