Indian Government to set new fuel efficiency norms

After meticulous thought-process, Government is now all set to draft auto fuel efficiency norms this month and is going to notify publicly concerning any type of public objections and comments for next 60 days.  Furthermore, Government is also planning to introduce five star ratings specifying the average fuel efficiency for all vehicles including private as well as commercial.

With an idea of decreasing the motor-vehicle emissions by 2% every year, Indian government wanted to introduce fuel efficiency standards. And for this purpose, a committee was formed comprising experts from Ministry of Road transport and highway and Bureau of Energy Efficiency.

Details suggest that government is keeping "Corporate Average Fuel Economy" or CAFE as the basis of drafting the norms which are effective in United States since 1970. CAFE norms will assist in bringing down the fuel efficiency per gram of carbon dioxide emission to the vehicle weight.

After designing the fuel efficiency norms, government will also make it compulsory for all car manufacturers to put a label notification for the consumers. This label will specify the fuel efficiency of cars in terms of mileage and its comparison with other car models present in the same price segment. This will not only assist consumers in selecting the ideal fuel efficient cars but will also help in conserving energy.

Currently, SIAM (Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers) has been voluntarily executing this program but without following any standard procedures. However, in case of failing to comply with the norms or not specifying the details about CAFE, the manufacturers will have to pay hefty penalties.

With Government still in the process of designing the structure of fuel efficiency standards, there is still long way to go. As far as government sources are taken in account, the new norms will come into effect by year 2015.