Bharat Stage VII: Draft proposes 2029 start for cars and SUVs

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has proposed Bharat Stage VII emission standards for M1-category vehicles manufactured from 1 April 2029, with further requirements scheduled for 2031 and 2035. Its draft notification, G.S.R. 880(E), dated 12 October 2026, would bring battery durability, brake particles and vehicle monitoring into the framework alongside exhaust emissions.

The proposal would amend the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989. M1-category vehicles include passenger cars and SUVs, according to The Hindu BusinessLine’s report on the draft. The requirements would vary by propulsion technology, with electric vehicles covered by provisions on battery performance and pollution beyond the exhaust pipe.

These are proposed standards, not a final notification. The ministry’s notice allows objections and suggestions for 30 days from the date copies of the notification, as published in the Official Gazette, become available to the public. It says the Central government will consider submissions received within that period before considering the draft rules.

What the passenger-vehicle timetable proposes

The ministry’s draft sets out three implementation phases. From 1 April 2029, its schedule includes exhaust-emission testing, battery-durability requirements, an Environmental Vehicle Passport and on-board systems for diagnostics, emissions monitoring and fuel-consumption monitoring.

The draft initially provides for access to emissions-monitoring and fuel-consumption information through the on-board diagnostics port, the vehicle’s diagnostic connection. From 1 April 2031, it proposes over-the-air operation for those monitoring systems, alongside brake-particle limits and tyre-wear requirements.

The third phase, from 1 April 2035, would move to common brake-particle limits across propulsion technologies, according to the ministry’s schedule. Some numerical limits and testing requirements are expressly left for separate notification.

Bharat Stage standards set limits on pollutants emitted by motor vehicles. The New Indian Express reported that India introduced BS-VI nationwide in April 2020 after skipping BS-V. Its account describes BS-VII as extending the way emissions are measured and monitored, rather than simply reducing every existing passenger-car exhaust limit.

Exhaust limits and checks beyond certification

The ministry’s proposed M1 exhaust-emission table specifies nitrogen oxide limits of 60 milligrams per kilometre for positive-ignition engines and 80 milligrams per kilometre for compression-ignition engines. These are engine categories associated with petrol and diesel vehicles respectively. The proposed particulate-mass limit is 4.5 milligrams per kilometre for both.

The New Indian Express reported that these nitrogen oxide and particulate-mass limits remain unchanged from the corresponding BS-VI thresholds. The distinction matters: describing the proposal only as tighter exhaust limits would miss much of its scope.

According to the newspaper, the particle-counting threshold would move from 23 nanometres to 10 nanometres, bringing smaller particles within the measurement requirement. Particle mass measures the weight of emitted particles; particle number counts them.

The ministry’s draft also distributes compliance requirements across different stages of a vehicle’s life. Type approval is the process of demonstrating that a vehicle model meets the prescribed requirements. Conformity of production concerns vehicles being manufactured, while in-service conformity concerns vehicles already in use.

Its testing table requires real-driving emissions checks at type approval and during in-service conformity, but not as a production-conformity test. Laboratory testing uses the Worldwide Harmonised Light Duty Test Procedure, or WLTP, covering specified emissions, fuel consumption and, where applicable, electric-energy consumption and range.

The draft separately proposes an evaporative-emission limit of 1.5 grams per test for M1 models manufactured from 1 April 2029. This addresses fuel vapour rather than exhaust from combustion.

Battery performance becomes a compliance requirement

For pure electric vehicles and externally rechargeable hybrids, commonly called plug-in hybrids, the ministry proposes minimum battery-energy performance requirements from 1 April 2029.

The draft specifies retention of at least 75 per cent of original battery energy capacity during the first five years or 1 lakh kilometres, whichever comes first. For the subsequent period, extending up to eight years or 1.6 lakh kilometres, whichever comes first, the minimum would be 67 per cent.

These thresholds concern retained battery energy, not a fixed driving range. The ministry’s separate table for range-based minimum performance requirements contains no numerical thresholds and says they will be notified separately. Battery requirements for an additional lifetime period are also reserved for separate notification.

The Hindu BusinessLine reported that the proposed Environmental Vehicle Passport would accompany documents certifying a vehicle’s compliance. Vehicle users would receive updated information on fuel consumption, battery health, pollutant emissions and other information generated by monitoring systems, with provision for displaying the passport inside the vehicle.

The ministry’s draft also requires measures against unauthorised changes to traction batteries and their management systems, odometers, pollution-control equipment and on-board monitoring systems. The provision covers vehicle design, manufacture and assembly, rather than only a check at initial certification.

Brake particles and tyre wear

The ministry proposes brake-particle mass limits from 1 April 2031, extending regulation to a source of pollution distinct from the exhaust.

Its table sets a PM10 brake-emission limit of 3 milligrams per kilometre per vehicle for pure electric vehicles. For internal-combustion vehicles, hybrids and the listed fuel-cell categories, the proposed limit is 7 milligrams per kilometre per vehicle.

The New Indian Express explains that braking produces particles as components wear, while tyres shed particles through contact with the road. Those sources remain relevant even when a vehicle has no tailpipe emissions during electric driving.

From 1 April 2035, a common brake-particle mass limit of 3 milligrams per kilometre would apply across those vehicle types, according to The Hindu BusinessLine’s account of the draft. The ministry’s text says the brake-particle number limit will be notified separately.

For C1 tyres fitted to M1 vehicles manufactured from 1 April 2031, the draft proposes tyre-abrasion requirements. However, it leaves both the abrasion limits and specified testing requirements to a separate notification. The timetable therefore does not yet provide manufacturers with every numerical requirement.

Small goods vehicles have a separate proposed start

The passenger-vehicle schedule should not be read as a single start date for every vehicle category. PTI reported on 15 October 2026, in a report carried by Rediff Money, that a separate ministry draft proposes BS-VII standards from 1 April 2030 for N1 goods vehicles with gross vehicle weight not exceeding 3.5 tonnes.

That goods-vehicle proposal would add further requirements in April 2032 and April 2035, PTI reported. The agency also reported that the proposed transition would not affect existing vehicles or their life, including BS-VI-compliant vehicles.

For passenger vehicles, the ministry’s draft establishes proposed dates and several measurable limits, but leaves tyre-abrasion thresholds, range-based battery requirements and certain particle-number limits for later notifications. Those outstanding specifications remain part of the compliance framework yet to be defined.