Indian Automotive Industry towards Bharat Stage-VI Emission Norms: A Technical Review

Abstract

The rapid growth of automotive industry in India is facing challenges of degradation in the quality of surrounding environment. To improve the current status of exhaust emissions from automobiles Government of India decided to implement Bharat Stage VI (BS-VI) norms from April 2020 in 15 major cities. Due to skipping of BS-V, Indian original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are now facing a big challenge of confirming these norms. Sustainable mobility is the only solution for this which includes improvements in existing engine technology and fuels. This paper explains in brief about various means of sustainable mobility namely usage of alternate fuels, advanced combustion methods, engine downsizing, onboard diagnostics, use of after-treatment devices, electric and hybrid vehicles. Hydrogen which is the best fuel among all fuels, but not a better option because of safety issues. Hence to meet BS-VI emission limits advanced combustion methods, downsizing of engine and application of after-treatment devices could be the possible options that engine manufacturers have. This paper briefly explains key features of BS-VI and possible options to satisfy BS-VI limits. Finally, the current status of efforts taken by Indian OEMs to meet those norms is
mentioned.