Nitin Gadkari would like auto industry to go straight to BS-VI standard

NEW DELHI: Road transport minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday asked automobile manufacturers to leapfrog from BS-IV to BS-VI to reduce vehicular pollution. Gadkari's appeal comes at a time when green activists are pushing this demand following the recent National Green Tribunal order on high level of air pollution in Delhi.

The minister said industry may have some difficulty doing this but there was scope to turn the "challenge into an opportunity". "Manufactures are now seeking time for 4-5 years. Manufacturers, as early as possible, should go to the mark of Euro-5 and Euro-6 (read BS-V and BS-VI) and I suggest they could go for Euro-6 directly," he said.

Gadkari also asked automobile manufacturers to shift focus from manufacturing diesel-fuelled vehicles to those running on cleaner fuels such as bio-diesel, bio-CNG, hybrid and electricity. He added his ministry would do more for such vehicles than for diesel-run ones that are more polluting.

The minister said shifting dependence on diesel for transport will help the country's save huge foreign exchange. According to estimates, over 80 per cent of the country's total diesel consumption is for transportation.

On Wednesday, road transport secretary Vijay Chhibber had asked the automobile industry to be sensitive towards environment and safety issues rather than thinking about their "profitability only".

Gadkari has said his ministry plans to set up 2,000 centres for fitness and pollution tests across the country on public private partnership mode. The ministry has submitted this to NGT as part of proposals to curb vehicular pollution.