Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said today that the Indian Government is in the final stage of notifying the fuel efficiency standards for automobiles from 2011.
The Minister’s comments really threw out some interesting data. The Power and agriculture cause much more pollution than automobiles. Transport sector accounts for just 15-20 percent of total green house gas emissions in India. Even upto 2030 the GHG emissions by transport sector are not projected to go above 25%. Out of this 15-20 %, diesel engines trains and more importantly Airlines must also be contributing a significant bit. Add to that the fact that even in the transport sector it is the smoke belching Public transport, be it taxis, buses or kerosene powered rickshaws that are definitely the bigger culprits.
But no it is none of them whom the government seeks to regulate. It is the personal cars and bikes that will have to go through lengthy painful ‘government-testing’ to ensure that they are fuel-efficient. So that one day India’s fuel consumption will come down by ‘1’ whole percent!