All new cars will have to meet fuel efficiency standards set by the govt
Our Bureau / New Delhi : Cheers to car buyers. They will have high-mileage cars on offer from 2017 under a notification issued by the government last week making fuel-efficiency norms mandatory for the automobile industry.
All new cars will have to meet a prescribed mileage standard, forcing the car-makers to offer better choices. The notification was hanging afire for the past six years because of the intense lobbying by the automobile industry. The government, however, decided to notify the fuel-efficiency norms based on the weight of the car as sources said it would help the country reduce the oil consumption by 2.22 million tonnes.
The fuel efficiency norms are part of the “demand management” professed for years to regulate the oil imports. Sources said the Road Transport Ministry will implement the new standards under the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989.
They said the government also plans to force labelling of the vehicles to enable the potential buyers to see where each model of the car in the market stands in comparison to other options in the same weight range. They said the ministry will also encourage setting up of workshops for testing of vehicles for mileage.
The mandatory fuel mileage norms will kick in by 2017 and further tightened by 2022, so as not to allow any big cars that consume too much fuel. The average fuel consumption of cars sold in 2011 was 5.778 litres per 100 km with the average car weight of 1,101 kg. The average fuel consumption of cars to be sold under the new norms will be 4.769 litres per 100 km with average car weight of 1,145 kg.
