The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has made an announcement stating that all two-wheelers, three-wheelers and four-wheelers will have to comply with Bharat Stage IV (BS IV) norms from April 1, 2017.

The BS IV norms, for cars, have been in effect since April 2010 when they were introduced across 13 major cities across India. The price of BS IV vehicles will be higher than BS III vehicles. What could also happen, is that we may see a spurt in demand for these vehicles until April 2017. Manufacturers may also offer heavy discounts on BS III vehicles to clear out the stocks. The Bharat Stage norms were introduced in the year 2000 and progressively stringent norms have been rolled out since then.

The Government of India is tackling the nation's problem of rising pollution levels on a war footing. It has announced plans to skip BS V norms and directly implement BS VI norms by April 2020. However, it's easier said than done as reworking on vehicle design to make it compliant is an uphill task for manufacturers. Also, the cost involved is huge. There's similar pressure on oil companies to ready BS VI fuel. The Government has begun consulting major international auto component manufacturers to check for the possibility of compressing the timeline for implementing BS VI. Expectedly, the price of BS VI compliant vehicles will be significantly higher.

While the Government may be in fast track mode, India is in fact lagging behind the rest of the countries. China, for example, had already implemented China V in 2013. India also trails behind European norms by five years.