Industry experts believe that the sales of petrol cars will soon gather a decent momentum after the implementation of proposed Rs. 10 per litre hike in the diesel prices. This can be clarified by the fact that in September 2012 when an increase of Rs. 5 was practised on the diesel prices in India, a sudden penchant for petrol cars was witnessed by the auto makers among Indian buyers. Reportedly, in fiscal 2011, the difference between diesel and petrol prices expanded up to Rs. 25 a litre, which forced several buyers to switch to diesel models.
However, the Indian buyers are now more aware that which fuel option to use, according to their daily usage. The statement rotates around the fact that the time taken by an individual to recover his/her extra premium paid for diesel vehicles is around 15-25 per cent over their petrol models. It must be also noted that the diesel models are as twice expensive on the maintenance and service side over the petrol vehicles. However, in return, diesel models turn out to be 15-20 per cent more fuel efficient than the petrol-fuelled models.
On the other hand, Environment Pollution Control Authority (EPCA) has recently recommended in Lok Sabha to ban diesel vehicles in the national capital. According to the report submitted by this institution, discontinuation of diesel vehicles will significantly reduce the smoke particles in the region. Expressing his views on this, Environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan said, “The EPCA in a report in 2012 has stated that benefits of CNG transition are not visible due to growth in diesel vehicles, because diesel vehicles are known to emit higher smoke particles and Nitrogen Oxides than petrol cars.”
With all these moves and reports, it seems that the Indian auto industry will witness a drastic change soon. On one hand, the government is implementing a price hike on diesel fuel and considering the recommendations for banning diesel vehicles on the other. According to EPCA, the increasing pollution in state can be only controlled after discontinuing the diesel cars.
The government is also considering several measures to reduce the emission level. In 2004, the state Government issued a statement for all public transport vehicles mentioning their switch to CNG fuel. Moreover, Bharat Stage-IV emission standards have also been practised in the state on all vehicles. Reducing sulphur content in petrol and diesel is also another key step to wind down the pollution.
However, auto makers are against the recommendation of banning diesel vehicles, as a lot of improvement has been made in the diesel engine technology to control emissions. Most companies use Common Rail Direct Injection (CRDI) engines, which are not only fuel efficient but produce lower emissions.
