It may be recalled that the Government had appointed, in the month of September 2001, a Committee of Experts to finalize an auto fuel policy for the country. The Committee comprises eminent experts from the fields of environment, vehicular technology, petroleum processing, public finance and management. It had representation from the concerned Ministries/ Organizations namely, Environment & Forests, Heavy Industry, Road Transport & Highways, Non-conventional Energy Sources, Consumer Affairs, Agriculture, Petroleum & Natural Gas and Central Pollution Control Board.

    Later, speaking at a press conference, Dr. Mashelkar informed that the recommendations made by the Committee include a broad framework to address the linked issues of vehicular emissions/auto fuel quality and ambient air quality. He said that the Committee has suggested a road map for future emission norms and auto fuel specifications, investments required to be made by the auto and the oil industry for upgradation of technologies/facilities, the fiscal incentives necessary for these industries and other attendant measures.

    The report states that to meet the air quality targets, the Government should prescribe, as elsewhere in the developed world, only the vehicular emission norms and matching fuel specifications, leaving the choice of vehicle type and the fuel to the user public.

    The Committee has recommended the following road map for future vehicular emission standards and the matching auto fuel specifications:

1. Bharat Stage-II emission norms in the cities of Hyderabad, Bangalore and Ahmedabad latest by the end of the year 2003;
2. Extension of Bharat Stage-II emission norms to the whole country from 1.4.2005;
3. Introduction of Euro-III equivalent emission norms in 7 mega cities from 1.4.2005; and
4. Extension of Euro-III equivalent emission norms to other parts of the country from 2010.

    The Committee has emphasised that only emission efficient new vehicles and compatible fuels cannot meet the desired air quality targets. The Report states that pollution load from the ill-maintained in-use vehicles is substantial. It has been recommended that other attendant measures like comprehensive inspection and certification system for in-use vehicles, surveillance and checking emission warranty systems, better traffic management, construction of bye-passes around major cities etc. are essential to attain air quality targets. The Committee recommends setting up of an institutional mechanism for this purpose, the details of which it would bring out in the final report.

    For finalising its report / recommendations, the Committee interacted with various stake holders including environmentalists, producers of automobiles and auto fuels, associations of the operators of passenger and goods transport and eminent/interested individuals. The Committee took a total of 16 presentations and received over 100 submissions through various channels including a web site specifically created for this purpose. The organizations that made presentations to the Committee include Centre for Science & Environment, TERI, SIAM, Association of State Transport Undertakings, All India Motor Transport Congress, IGL, Reliance Petroleum, public sector oil companies, etc. The Committee was set up in September 2001 and was asked to submit an interim report within three months and the final report in six months. The Committee would abide by the time frame given by the Government and submit the final report by March 2002, Dr. Mashelkar said.