The wait for 5-star cars gets longer

A little time ago, the centre had introduced its plan of fuel efficiency norms for the passenger cars. But it seems like that the plan has now gone into the cold storage. The reason behind is that the auto industry has shown  strong reservations on the five-star rating system that was offered by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency. A new technical committee has been formed. This committee consists of industry experts, officials from ministry of road transport and highways and officials of the power ministry. The aim of this committee is to work out a final draft for the fuel efficiency standards used by the passenger cars under Energy Conservation Act. India expects to reduce its emissions through vehicles by 2 percent with the implementation of these standards. However, the auto industry has shown reservations in the technical committee discussions for the standards that are being offered.

BEE, that is, Bureau of Energy Efficiency has proposed a 5-star rating system for all passenger cars. As a base standard, a specific  mileage average, specified as kilometers per litre, will also be fixed. For instance, if some car reaches more than ten per cent of that average, it will get one-star rating whereas the car that gets over 50% or sets all new standards in its segment will be given a 5-star rating. However, the auto-industry is doubtful for this proposed system which takes into consideration, the  mileage only. The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) has indicated that the cars with an average mileage of 14 km per litre might get into the 5-star category. The other cars with 16 km per litre may belong to the 3-star category as per the proposed system.

One of the SIAM’s presentation expressed that the new regulations are being considered frequently by the government. This can change the star-rating of the same car. Presently, the government is working out  fuel efficiency norms and later on, the safety guidelines will also be introduced. That is why, for each new guideline, the automobile manufacturers have to submit their cars for type approval, said a source. SIAM president Dr Pawan Goenka was quoted saying that many features of labeling of fuel efficiency have been agreed upon. They are now working on few of the details with the government as to how to launch the norms.

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