Road Transport Ministry notifies new emission test standards. Check details

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The Ministry of Road Transport and Highway (MoRTH) has notified new emission test standards for vehicles seeking approval under BS-VI emission norms. As per the new standards notified by the government, all bi-fuel vehicles with flex-fuel options will have to take both gaseous pollutant and particulate matter pollutant tests. However, vehicles that run on Hydrogen, will only have to undergo nitrogen oxide tests.

The government notification released on January 5 read: “When a bi-fuel has flex fuel option, both test requirements are applicable… Only NOx emissions shall be determined when the vehicle is running on Hydrogen.”

It clarified that particulate mass and number limits for vehicles with positive ignition engines including hybrids shall apply only to vehicles with direct injection engines.

“Vehicles fuelled with biodiesel blends up to 7 percent will be tested with reference to diesel (B7) and vehicles fuelled with biodiesel blends above 7 percent will be tested with respective blends,” the notification issued by the Road Transport Ministry read.

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CO2 emission and fuel consumption shall be measured as per procedure laid down in AIS 137 and as amended from time to time, it added.

The notification states that manufacturers will have the option to choose either Gasoline (E10) or Gasoline (E20) as fuel for type approval and conformity of production test.

The conformity of production period for each vehicle model (including variants) will be once a year and at least 50 percent of the models produced from a particular plant per year will be selected randomly for tests.

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The notification specifies that for diesel vehicles, the emission of visible pollutants (smoke) should not exceed the limit value of smoke density when expressed as the light absorption coefficient for various nominal flows when tested at constant speeds over the full load. “These smoke limits are without correction factor and engines are to be tested with conditioned air supplied to the engine to maintain atmospheric factor at 0.98 to 1.02,” it added.

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highway had on May 9, 2023, published a draft of the tests required for M and N category vehicles, which include both private and commercial vehicles. The tests were notified after seeking feedback from stakeholders. These tests are aimed at curbing vehicular pollution and ensuring that automakers keep upgrading to cleaner fuel technologies.