October 06, 2003

New Delhi, October 6, 2003: The national auto fuel policy, approved by the Union cabinet on October 3, 2003 and announced today by Ram Naik, Union minister of petroleum and natural gas, is nothing better than an eyewash, says the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE). CSE had earlier rejected the Mashelkar committee’s recommendations on auto fuel policy when they were sent to the cabinet for approval. The policy, which plays into the hands of polluters, will destroy the Supreme Court’s initiative to protect public health.

The policy, according to CSE, is so weak and uncaring about public health objectives that it virtually denies millions of urban Indians the right to clean air. While a majority of Indian cities are choking on very high levels of particulate pollution, the policy stipulates that "clean" fuel (meeting Euro II norms) that is currently being supplied to Delhi – and has had little impact on its overall air quality -- will be made available to the rest of the country only by 2005. People of the country have been given no option but to die a slow death, as nothing new is proposed for them.

The implementation of the Supreme Court’s order on CNG has clearly demonstrated the critical importance of technological leapfrogging in polluted Indian cities. CNG vehicles meeting Euro IV norms in terms of particulate emissions have given the people of Delhi a tremendous advantage over what Mashelkar committee has recommended. But a lot still remains to be done: the extremely high levels of pollution make a bolder roadmap and harsher measures absolutely imperative.

The policy says that most of the cities it targets will get Euro III standards (which are incrementally better than Euro II) even later – in 2010. This comes at a time when increasing number of studies from different cities across the country clearly show that the rising pollution level in them is deteriorating public health. The policy totally ignores Delhi’s experience of technological leapfrogging with aggressive use of alternative fuels and quicker implementation of advanced emission norms. If this experience is anything to go by, Euro IV norms need to be implemented faster in these cities to make a visible impact.

The auto fuel policy even dilutes the recommendations of the Inter-Ministerial Task Force on fuel quality and vehicular emission specifications and the road map proposed by the Society for Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) in 2000. Moreover, the minister’s suggestion that the government should decide only the vehicular emissions standard and the corresponding fuel specifications without specifying vehicle technology and the fuel type, is grossly inappropriate, feels CSE.

If you have questions, please contact Chandrachur Ghose on 29955124, 29955125, 29956394 or 29956401.