Kitna deti hai?

Remember that ad where a couple is shown a swanky huge yacht and after seeing all the features, the only one big question which can make or break the buying decision – kitna deti hai?

Yes, we Indians are fixated with mileage and rightly so, given the price we pay for filling up the tank. Thus it was very good news to read that the Govt has notified fuel efficiency guidelines which auto makers HAVE to follow, beginning 1st April 2017. The Govt has made it mandatory that the average fuel efficiency of cars, across all models made, should be at least 18.2 kms/litre. And once we hit 1st April 2022, the requirement will be 22 kms/litre. Rules will naturally be different for buses and trucks.

Wonder how SUVs will be able to hit this mark. But this is very good news and surely companies will know a way to manipulate around this too – they will say that the vehicle gives you over 20 kms/litre when driven on a straight, pothole-less road with no traffic and signals. Do we have such roads within the cities of India, except for the expressways?

Thus rules will be many and companies will put that much and more brains behind how to crack a loophole. But on an average, we can expect fuel efficiencies to go up. Some cars will surely need to be phased out  and companies will have to upgrade their technologies to make fuel efficient engines. Countries like the US, Japan, Germany and China also have these rules and penalties are huge. In India, when a murderer can get away with bail, need we say anything about such ‘small’ rule flouters!