The Indian Automotive Industry holds a major slot when it comes to contribution in the GDP. It contributes around 7.1 percent in the Indian GDP. And this would not be a surprise, as India is one of the world’s top Automotive Industries. The success of our Automotive Industry is no doubt something which we should be proud of, but this growing industry is also raising a few major concerns.

We all know that most of the trade which happens in India is dependent on Road Transport followed by Railway Transport. Now, these two modes of transport are almost fully dependent on one fuel which is DIESEL . And recently it is speculated that the Government might ban Diesel automotives in India. Well, there are plenty who are against this and many who are with this, but we in this article will take a deep dive and understand, why the Government wants to ban Diesel in India?

From where it all started...

31 December, 2021 - The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas established a committee - The Energy Transition Advisory Committee. This committee had been given a task to provide a report on Green Energy Transition in India. They evaluated many topics under this particular agenda, but there were 3 topics which were related to the Automotive Industry -

• Net zero emission till 2070

• Roadmap for the energy transition under 6 months

• A plan to transit from Fossil Fuel to Green Energy

The Green Shift Report 

As the automotive Industry has been very profitable for the country, there are also numerous problems which the industry has been creating for the country, one of the major ones is Pollution. Emissions made by automobiles have become a concerning topic in recent years. As vehicles are being bought in a very large amount every single day, they are also contributing to the increasing pollution levels. And to conquer this problem, the report stated 3 strict measures which should be taken for the Green Energy transition aim.

Measures - 

• In cities with a population of more than 10 lakhs, Diesel powered vehicles should be banned in the next 5 years, i.e. till 2027.

• Diesel powered City Buses should not be added anymore to meet the aim of Clean Fuel Urban Public Transport in about 10 years, i.e. till 2033.

• By 2035, the use of Internal combustion 2-wheelers and 3- wheelers should be banned.

What can be done in the Intermediate period?

• Standardizing EV 2-wheelers in order to encourage the development of EV charging stations and Battery swapping.

• With the support of policies and Finance, the ecosystem for EV based mobility has to be promoted.

• With the use of fiscal taxations, promotions of Flex Fuel capable and Hybrid vehicles could be done.

• A policy for Ethanol blended fuel with an increasing blending ratio should be given.

• Today Railway Transport sits at 23% for the transport of cargo, it needs to be increased to 50%.

These are some measures which the report states that could be taken for the transition to Green Energy.

But, all of this makes me think about one thing which is Why is this report focusing on Diesel heavily? Well to find this, I did some research about the emissions from Diesel powered vehicles and the result which I got is shocking! 

These 3 points state that - how diesel is so harmful to us? It starts with,

Emissions

Comparatively Diesel is considered as more polluting than Petrol - 

• It produces more CO2 per liter of fuel combustion with additional release of harmful emissions like NOx ( Nitric Oxide ) and PM ( Particulate matter ).

• It also emits more pollution compared to Petrol and CNG vehicles. The ratio for this statement -

1 Diesel Vehicle : 24 Petrol Vehicles

1 Diesel Vehicle : 40 CNG Vehicles

These points tell how polluting a Diesel engine is.

Health

• According to studies, it is claimed that Diesel exhausts could lead to severe Lung Cancers as its engines are classified as Group 1 Carcinogen.

• Old diesel vehicles have less effective exhausts which release fumes that are way above the allowed limit.

• NOx and PM, these two toxins produced by a diesel engine are very harmful to our health, as it leads to Lung cancer and sometimes death too.

• An average diesel car produces 3.65 tons of carbon emissions throughout its life which compared to a petrol vehicle is a lot more.

Environment

Emissions from diesel vehicles create ground level ozone which intoxicates crops, trees and vegetation. It also produces Acid Rain which further damages the crops, water streams and other environmental aspects. 

At last human Health is affected by this, as it all enters in the Human Food Chain through water, produce, meat and fish.

Personal Opinion

Okay, so concluding with this question. After all this analysis I did, I got to know all of these facts which I was not aware of. It stuns me how harmful diesel fuel actually is. Earlier, where we car enthusiasts used to hail Diesel powered engines and we were completely against the shift of carmakers to Petrol engines, these facts are kind of an eye opener for me now. And genuinely after all this, I would be all okay if the Government actually plans to ban the Diesel even from tomorrow. 

By the way, do you know how the government actually responded to The Green Shift report?

Will Diesel be banned in India by 2027?

Earlier, when this report was first submitted to the government in the month of May in 2023, there was no such official statement provided by the government. And obviously the government not taking quick decisions was expected because the recommended actions were actually very strict! 

But, since a few days now, there has been this speculation that the Government might ban the Diesel from 2027 . According to me, this would be sensible, as the diesel consumers now have 5 years to make a transition of themselves from diesel to other favourable fueled mode of transport.