Automotive fuel economy and car emissions have faced severe criticism from all and sundry. As car manufacturers refused to publicly own up the fuel efficiency of their engines, the Indian government made it mandatory to publish fuel efficiency ratings for every model.

The government is getting stricter by the day to combat pollution better and has finally decided to implement automotive fuel economy standards. The issue has been considered so seriously that the Prime Minister’s Office itself has decided that the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) will formulate the new fuel economy norms and notify them under the Energy Conservation Act. The execution of the norms will be the responsibility of the surface transport ministry.

The norms will be developed on the basis of mileage that petrol and diesel vehicles deliver. BEE is expected to move fast to implement the labelling of vehicles in the first phase. It will then be converted into mandatory standards. The bureau hopes that manufacturers will work to ensure that their cars will deliver better fuel efficiency after the implementation of these standards.

The government is considering various factors before finalizing the norms. Climate experts in the country are asking the government to not make the norms too obscure for consumers to understand and to use carbon dioxide emission as a measure to establish standards for fuel efficiency.

The Indian government needs to enact the law on the lines of fuel economy regulations in Europe and the United States. High fuel efficiency standards will ensure lesser dependability on fossil fuels.