“We are ready with the next level of Bharat Stage [emission] standards and the final consultations are underway. We hopefully should be in a position to bring out the draft in a couple of months’ time for the BS 7 introduction,” Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) Secretary V Umashankar said at the 2026 SIAM Annual Convention in Delhi.
Bharat Stage norms limit the emissions of pollutants like hydrocarbons, sulphur and oxides of nitrogen from vehicles. India currently follows BS6 Phase 2 (or BS6.2) norms, which came into effect on April 1, 2023. “I think the industry is also preparing itself for it. The key challenge there would be the timelines,” Umashankar added.
What changes with BS7?
BS7 will put a greater focus on pollution levels from vehicles in real-world driving conditions rather than laboratory testing. Unlike the dramatic transition from BS4 to BS6, the move to BS7 is a natural progression from BS6. This should put relatively less pressure on manufacturers to upgrade their vehicles. Prices may also go up slightly due to the upgrades. Some models could even be discontinued if upgrading them to meet BS7 norms is not financially viable, something that we saw during the move from BS4 to BS6 in 2020.
Bharat Stage emission norms so far
Bharat Stage emission norms were introduced in India in the year 2000 with the implementation of BS1 standards, while also rolling out BS2 across major cities in a phased manner. BS2 was based on European emission regulations, with the main difference being the test cycle’s top speed – 90kph versus 120kph in Europe.
India remained one stage behind Europe until 2010, after which the oil industry could not supply the low-sulphur fuel needed to progress to BS5 before eventually leapfrogging from BS4 to BS6 in 2020.
How are CAFE norms different from BS standards?
Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) norms deal with overall fuel consumption, specifically the quantity of fuel consumed. Imposed on a carmaker’s entire fleet, and not on an individual model, it’s a limit set on the total emission of carbon dioxide produced. These norms force manufacturers to make more fuel efficient cars, which impacts many other things. Whereas, Bharat Stage norms measure emissions at a vehicular level.
