As India prepares to strictly implement emission control norms in 2022, Hyundai has requested the government to implement the rules by the next financial year. However, at least two ministries rejected the automaker’s plea, and went ahead with the initial timeline, records inspected by The Indian Express as part of a Right to Information (RTI) application showed.
Hyundai was among eight auto makers, including Mahindra, Kia, and Honda, which were unable to meet the second iteration of the Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency (CAFE) norms for 2022-23, The Indian Express reported last month. CAFE 2, which is currently the dominant emission standards in India, came into force in April 2022.
According to an inspection of official records at the Ministry of Power after the RTI application, Hyundai had sent two letters to the ministry requesting to postpone the CAFE 2 standard implementation date by one financial year (from April 2022 to April 2023). The letters were sent on January 19 and March 29, 2022. But in June 2022, the Ministry of Road Transport and Energy decided not to postpone or extend the implementation period of the standard.
A spokesperson for Hyundai Motor India Limited denied that the company had sought an extension of the norms by one year. “Hyundai’s request to the government for a one-year delay from April 1, 2022 to April 1, 2023 is incorrect,” a spokesperson for the carmaker said. “The company is committed to ensuring the highest standards of compliance and transparency.”
For 2022-23, the Bureau of Energy Efficiency, under the Union Ministry of Power, requires car companies of all units sold throughout the year to achieve CAFE 2 norms. This means a fuel consumption of no more than 4.78 liters per 100 kilometers and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions no more than 113 grams per kilometer (this is directly related to the amount of fuel consumed).
The corporate average fuel efficiency standards, which were first introduced in 2017-18, are aimed at improving the fuel efficiency of vehicles, reducing fossil fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. They apply to the average fuel consumption of all vehicles sold by an automaker in a given fiscal year.
In 2022-23, models and variants of 18 automobile manufacturers were tested in accredited laboratories by simulating real driving conditions.
In November, The Indian Express reported that the Center had found that eight car makers – Hyundai, Kia, Mahindra, Honda, Renault, Nissan, Skoda and Force Motor – exceeded the mandatory fleet emission levels in the financial year 2022-23, which would mean can 7,300 crore fine.
Hyundai has the highest fines totaling over Rs 2,800 crore, followed by Mahindra (around Rs 1,800 crore) and Kia (over Rs 1,300 crore). These fine figures are in dispute, with companies contesting the way they are calculated for the entire financial year.
In response to the report, Mahindra said in an exchange filing that to the best of (its) knowledge, no penalty has been imposed on the company for alleged violations of India’s emissions norms in 2022-23. Hyundai said, “It has not received any formal or informal information or notice of any penalty and has not heard formally or informally of the quantum mentioned”.
The government had to delay the publication of the annual fuel consumption compliance report for 2022-23 due to the controversy over the fine figures. The last available report is from 2021-22 (a year before the CAFE 2 standards came into effect), when all 19 carmakers complied with the emissions standards. It is said that the compliance report for the coming year 2023-24 has also been prepared but the previous year’s report was not made public as it was pending.
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