The Bureau of Energy Efficiency had calculated that the new fuel efficiency standards from 2017 would help the country reduce oil consumption by 2.22 million tonnes of oil equivalent (mtoe) as compared to the business as usual scenario by 2017 and 10.5 mtoe by 2022.
The fuel efficiency norms are part of the ‘demand management’ that the government had professed for years in order to regulate the volume of oil imported. It also feeds in to the Energy Efficiency mission under the National Action Plan on Climate Change.
The ministry of road transport and highways will implement the standards under the Central Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989.
The setting of standards for fuel efficiency of appliances and automobiles is usually preceded by mandatory labelling of the products to ensure consumers are informed. But in the case of cars, the labelling was opposed strongly with the industry instead promoting its own parallel scheme.
With the standards being forced through, the labelling is expected to be next on the anvil. Labelling would enable the potential buyers to see where each model of the car in the market stands in comparison with other options in the same weight range.
Alongside, sources in the ministry said, there would be a need for opening up the data on testing of vehicles for mileage and other related numbers to public scrutiny to also build confidence in the consumers.
Work has not yet started on making the rules to implement the scheme but they would now be required in time to make the standards operational.?
