The Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Petroleum & Natural Gas, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan announced that the draft norms on fuel efficiency for heavy duty vehicles will be released on 1st April, 2017. The Minister made the announcement during his address at the Saksham 2017, month long awareness drive on fuel conservation, at Siri Fort Auditorium, New Delhi. He said that the BS IV fuel will be available across the country from April, 2017 and that the Ministry is already planning and working on bringing in BS VI fuel by 2020.
He added there are more than 15 crore two wheelers and more than 3 crore three wheelers currently on roads in India. By turning off vehicle engine at red light stops of traffic signal, about 2 % of fuel can be saved which translates to Rs 14000 Cr of saving for the country. Drawing a parallel to the PMUY which has an allocation of Rs 8000 Cr to distribute LPG cylinders to 5 Cr BPL families across the country, Shri Pradhan highlighted the importance of energy/fuel conservation for saving costs that could be used for other developmental projects. He informed that over 1.60 Cr LPG connections have been given under PMUY since its launch in May 2016.
Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas
