{"id":65591,"date":"2025-09-29T10:35:22","date_gmt":"2025-09-29T05:05:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=65591"},"modified":"2025-09-29T11:03:11","modified_gmt":"2025-09-29T05:33:11","slug":"corporate-average-fuel-efficiency-cafe-norms-to-revamp-vehicle-emissions-framework","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/corporate-average-fuel-efficiency-cafe-norms-to-revamp-vehicle-emissions-framework\/","title":{"rendered":"Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency (CAFE) &#8211; Norms to Revamp Vehicle Emissions Framework"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency (CAFE) Latest News<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India has released <\/span><b>draft Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency (CAFE) 3<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> norms through the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (<\/span><b>BEE<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">).\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These norms <\/span><b>aim to tighten fuel efficiency and emission standards<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> while addressing industry demands for flexibility, especially for small cars and electric vehicles (EVs).<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Current CAFE Framework in India<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><b>CAFE:<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Introduced in <\/span><b>2017 <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">by BEE, Ministry of Power, <\/span><b>to regulate fuel consumption and carbon emissions<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> from passenger vehicles.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>These norms apply to vehicles<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> running on petrol, diesel, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), compressed natural gas (CNG), hybrids, and electric vehicles (EVs)<\/span><b> weighing less than 3,500 kg<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Designed to <\/span><b>reduce oil dependency and curb air pollution<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, pushing automakers to l<\/span><b>ower carbon dioxide emissions while incentivising the production of EVs<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, hybrids, and CNG vehicles.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><b>CAFE 2: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In 2022-23, <\/span><b>the norms were tightened<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (fuel consumption capped at 4.78 litres\/100 km, and CO\u2082 emissions capped at 113 g\/km) with increased penalties for non-compliance.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Need for CAFE 3:\u00a0<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the USA, EU, China, Japan, smaller lightweight cars receive relaxed CO\u2082 norms.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, <\/span><b>India\u2019s current framework is inverted<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, giving SUVs more relaxed limits and burdening small cars.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>So, CAFE 3 seeks to align with global best practices.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Key Features of Proposed CAFE 3 Norms<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Applicability:<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Covers <\/span><b>M1 category passenger vehicles<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> with a seating capacity of 9 people (including the driver) and a maximum weight of 3,500 kilogram.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Non-compliance<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> will attract penalties under the <\/span><b>Energy Conservation Act, 2001<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><b>Efficiency targets:<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Under CAFE 3, the efficiency formula is: <\/span><b>[0.002 x (W \u2013 1170) + c]<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. It is measured in petrol-equivalent litres per 100 kilometre.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here, <\/span><b>W <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">is the average fleet weight, 1,170kg is the fixed constant for weight, 0.002 is a fixed constant multiplier, and \u2018<\/span><b>c<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2019 is a constant that changes every year.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Since \u2018c\u2019 continues to decrease from FY28 to FY32, <\/span><b>the rules will become stricter over time<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. This constant<\/span><b> starts at 3.7264 in FY28<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, then subsequently drops to 3.0139 in FY32.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Lighter vehicles have easier compliance<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> compared to heavier SUVs or premium cars.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><b>Incentives for small cars:<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Additional relaxation<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of 3.0 g CO\u2082\/km (capped at 9.0 g\/km) for compact petrol cars (unladen mass up to 909 kg, engine capacity not exceeding 1200 cc and length not exceeding 4000 mm).<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is <\/span><b>designed to revive the small car segment<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, which saw a 71% sales decline in six years.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Complementary policy:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> GST 2.0 reforms lowered GST on small cars from 28% to 18%.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><b>Boost for EVs and alternate fuels:<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Super credits multipliers:<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Companies could potentially obtain relaxation in their overall efficiency target as the norms propose to offer companies \u201c<\/span><b>super credits<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201d based on the type of vehicle they sell.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Each <\/span><b>EV <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">sold will be counted <\/span><b>three times<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> while calculating a company\u2019s average.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Plug-in hybrids<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> will be counted 2.5 times, and strong hybrids twice.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Flex-fuel ethanol <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">cars are given a smaller multiplier of 1.5.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><b>Carbon Neutrality Factor (CNF) introduced:<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li><b>CNF offers further relaxation<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> on the targets based on the type of fuel used in a car.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>For example<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, for petrol vehicles (E20 to E30) 8% CNF on tailpipe CO2; for flex fuel ethanol vehicles and strong hybrid electric vehicles 22.3% CNF on tailpipe CO2; etc.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><b>Emissions pooling:<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Up to three carmakers can form a pool (to meet the targets jointly) and be treated as a single manufacturer.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Pool manager legally responsible for compliance and penalties.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Reduces compliance costs and encourages strategic alliances.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Conclusion<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The proposed CAFE 3 norms mark <\/span><b>a critical shift in India\u2019s emission strategy<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2014reviving small cars, incentivising EVs, and tightening long-term efficiency goals.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If implemented effectively, they could <\/span><b>reduce India\u2019s oil import dependency, accelerate green mobility adoption<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and align India\u2019s policies with global climate commitments under the <\/span><b>Paris Agreement<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, <\/span><b>challenges <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">remain in industry <\/span><b>adaptation<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, consumer acceptance, and <\/span><b>infrastructure readiness<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for alternative fuel vehicles.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Source: <\/b><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/explained\/explained-economics\/cafe-vehicular-pollution-check-rules-10274311\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><b>IE<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>India has released draft Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency (CAFE) 3 norms to address industry demands for flexibility, especially for small cars and EVs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":65605,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[2958,60,22,59],"class_list":{"0":"post-65591","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"tag-cafe-3-norms","9":"tag-mains-articles","10":"tag-upsc-current-affairs","11":"tag-upsc-mains-current-affairs","12":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65591","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65591"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65591\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65605"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65591"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65591"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65591"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}