Measures aimed at slashing vehicle emissions will be introduced two years early, the Indian government has announced in its first major policy response to the Delhi smog crisis.

As the haze improved slightly on Wednesday – albeit to levels still considered “very poor” – the Indian petroleum ministry said it would introduce Bharat VI fuels from April next year, instead of April 2020 as originally planned. The Bharat standards govern the volume of toxic materials permitted in the fuels that power the estimated 10 million cars that operate in the Indian capital and contribute significantly to its dangerously poor air quality.

The new fuels will have one-fifth the sulphur count of the existing standards, and 1,000 times less sulphur than fuels used in 1995. Polash Mukherjee, an air pollution researcher at the Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment, said the fuel standards would need to be paired with equally stringent technology standards to be fully effective. The combination of the two could reduce particulate matter from diesel vehicles by 90%, and petrol vehicles by around 60%, he said.(NU.nl)…[+]