In India, 80% of vehicles are homologated by the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI). Director Shrikant Marathe tells DNA about the introduction of the Bharat Stage (BS) IV norms, the need for an inspection system to get old vehicles off the roads and the use of alternate fuels.
Indian homologation norms are considered to be very stringent. What do you have to say on that?
We have been following the European homologation norms. I wouldn’t say these norms are stringent, because these norms are in line with the European norms. In fact, 10-15 years back, around 1995, there were hardly any norms in India and at that time we were lagging behind Europe by maybe 10 years, today that gap has been closed down to 5 years. By getting the BS IV norms (which will be introduced in April 2010), we will further lessen the gap.
Could you elaborate what BS IV norms will bring?
BS IV will obviously be more stringent than BS III. This stringency has come in terms of emissions — there are three regulated emissions which consist of carbon monoxide, hydro-carbon and nox. BS IV will bring control in the emission levels. From Euro I to Euro IV there has been a 95% reduction in emission levels. The government has spent around Rs 40,000-50,000 crore on BS IV fuels.
Do you face any problems in homologating the Indian vehicles?
Any automobile manufacturer always works a few years in advance, for example, with the BS IV coming in, they have been working since 2008 for this. They carry out extensive work, so naturally when they bring the vehicle here for certification, already a lot of work would have gone in at the OEM’s (original equipment manufacturer) end.
What’s the challenge for carmakers to get hybrids into the Indian market?
Indian carmakers are working on hybrids. M&M is quite aggressive about hybrid technology, even Tata Motors is working on some hybrids. The problem with hybrids is that the battery cost is very high. Today, they either use lithium iron or nickel metal ionised batteries, which are very expensive as compared to the lead acid battery. And the lead acid battery cannot be used in hybrid vehicles as these are old kind of batteries. So, due to high battery cost, the overall cost of the car goes up, which is the issue with hybrids coming into the Indian market. Even Toyota is planning to bring their Prius, which is a 10-year-old model, now. Obviously, they will not bring that old model here, as the car has seen many upgradations. While hybrids might still come in soon, it’s the electric vehicles will take another 10 years to penetrate into the market.
The car market is moving towards dieselisation… what’s your take?
The only concern with diesel is that it contains nox and particulate, but thanks to the advancement in technology, car manufacturers have been able to control their levels and make optimum use of the efficiency a diesel engine gives. A diesel powertrain is any day more efficient and the move is towards leaner diesel engines. Some European countries are almost 60% diesel markets, for example France, Belgium and now, the UK.
Do you see any car being made below the Nano’s 600 cc?
No, I don’t think anything below the 600-700 cc mark will make sense for the Indian car market. World over, there are 500 cc cars, but they are not suitable for the Indian customer because the Indian buyer is not just buying the car for city travel alone, but also for inter-city travel, so cars below the 600 cc mark will not give the required power and efficiency.
With respect to the life of a vehicle, there is no system in place which would assess the vehicles health. Is there any work done in this area?
In Mumbai and Delhi, 15-year-old commercial vehicles cannot ply within the city limits. The government is working aggressively on promoting the maintenance regime of the vehicles. In European countries and also in Japan and Singapore, every year, depending upon their type, vehicles have to go through an inspection and maintenance routine, where they are checked for emissions and safety aspects. If they do not pass the test, they have to go off the road… such kind of a system needs to come to India.
The government is seriously thinking of setting up such a system in India and ARAI is helping them on this project and in future, you will see an iron-hand regime with respect to old vehicles as the cost of ownership also goes up.
Your take on alternate fuels like CNG and LPG?
When vehicles using CNG and LPG came into the market, people had this myth that they are unsafe, but these vehicles are used all around the world and you can design a CNG or LPG vehicle which is absolutely safe.
For an OEM, it is difficult to incorporate a CNG or LPG tank as the weight of a CNG tank is high as much 10% higher than a normal petrol or diesel tank.
Also in case of these fuels, unlike petrol and diesel, there is no scope for adulteration. In terms of money saved, fuels like these give almost 20% cost saving.
Are we ready for for BS V norms?
There are no discussions in the government for BS V norms as this norm will require a totally different fuel, so as of today, there are no intentions of introducing BS V.
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