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FUEL FOR THOUGHT

THE ROAD MAP for cleaner fuel — and, by implication, for cleaner air — will have to be redrawn with oil refiners declaring they are unable to meet the deadline for the supply of petrol and diesel that matches the required standards. By April 1, 2005, Euro III emission norms for petrol and diesel were to be introduced in 11 Indian cities where Euro II norms are in place. This is also the date by which the rest of the country was to come under Euro II norms. The Centre accepted this deadline on the basis of the recommendations made by the Mashelkar Committee, which was set up to review the country's auto fuel policy and suggest measures to regulate vehicular emissions. Upgrading fuel quality is not an easy exercise, requiring as it does considerable capital investment on new technology. The Mashelkar Committee itself estimated that the cost of such upgradation would be of the order of Rs. 35,000 crore. However, the April 2005 deadline was fixed in consultation with refiners in both the public and private sectors, and the Centre must ensure that it is not extended unreasonably.

Despite accepting European Union emission norms as benchmarks to measure and regulate vehicular pollution, India lags far behind the West in the implementation of measures to check the menace. The 11 metros that will hopefully witness the introduction of Euro III norms in 2005 will be five years behind Europe (which adopted them in 2000). Euro IV norms will be enforced in Europe during this year, while the final deadline for all of India to adopt Euro III norms is 2010! The upgradation of vehicular fuels, which principally means reducing the amount of sulphur in diesel and cutting down on the level of aromatics (benzene) in petrol, is an important component of any strategy aimed at restricting vehicular pollution. The other vital component is the improvement of vehicular technology. In this connection, the country's automobile manufacturers seem well prepared for the switchover; some car manufacturers in fact have been exporting Euro III compliant cars for a while now. The real challenge, as many anticipated when the Centre accepted the Mashelkar Committee's recommendations two years ago, was always going to be the supply of the corresponding quality of fuel. With some refineries promising to meet the specified standards in a few months and with Government officials suggesting that the deadline may not have to be pushed beyond October 2005, the hope is that the delay in rolling out cleaner vehicular fuels will be limited.

Improvements in the quality of petrol and diesel may be central components in any strategy for cleaner air but they will not yield the desired environmental results unless accompanied by a clutch of other measures. This includes the use of compressed natural gas (CNG) wherever possible as a niche fuel. Despite some initial hiccups, the CNG experiment has worked well in Delhi and deserves to be replicated in cities that lie alongside or are close to natural gas pipelines. The success of any auto fuel policy in India will depend critically on the adoption of extremely strict measures to check adulteration. Improving the quality of fuel will have little positive impact from an environmental standpoint if the widespread practice of adulterating petrol and diesel with kerosene remains unchecked. In this connection, it is also important to improve the public transport system, which is in poor shape in many parts of the country, and introduce a much more rigorous system for conducting pollution checks on vehicles. In short, the battle for cleaner air will have to be waged on many fronts if it is to be won.

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