World's largest two-wheeler manufacturer, Hero MotoCorp, has become the first manufacturer in the country to receive BS-VI (Bharat Stage Six) emission certification. The company's Splendor iSmart motorcycle received the certification from International Centre for Automotive Technology (ICAT), the premier automotive testing facility under the government's transport ministry.
ICAT on Monday released India's first Type Approval Certificate (TAC) for BS-VI norms for two-wheeler segment in the country. In a conference in Delhi, Dinesh Tyagi, director, ICAT, released the certificate and handed them over to officials of Hero MotoCorp Ltd.
"This is India's first certification of the two-wheeler segment under BS-VI norms, that are the latest emission norms as notified by the government of India," said Dinesh Tyagi, director, ICAT. The new certification would help in moving in the direction of the BS-VI emission norm roadmap of registering only BS-VI compliant vehicles (two, three and four wheelers) from April 1, 2020, as laid out by the government, he added.
ICAT, which is the only automotive quality testing laboratory in the country, played a crucial role in shaping the design features and other calibration of vehicular engine parts. Among the activities in which the government laboratory had aided manufacturers include the development of BS-VI compliant engines, and its child parts like an injector, carburettor and also calibration of the vehicle's ECU chips.
ICAT tests the vehicles with all the parts assembled and then embark on a final optimisation of the vehicles, to meet the stricter emission norms. The government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi had taken a decision to introduce BS-VI norms by skipping BS-V emission norms in between.
The premier testing and certification laboratory had last year issued its approval for BS-VI norms to heavy commercial vehicle manufacturer Volvo Eicher Commercial Vehicles.
Four-wheeler manufacturers are also learnt to be working closely with the government laboratory to develop their own BS-VI compliant engines for the Indian market. The first BS-VI compliant four-wheeler could become a reality in the near future.
Meanwhile, Hero MotoCorp in a statement said: "Hero MotoCorp received the Type Approval Certificate from International Centre for Automotive Technology (ICAT) for the Splendor iSmart motorcycle, after it was successfully tested for compliance to the BS-VI emission norms." The BS-VI compliant motorcycle has been designed and developed in-house at the company’s R&D hub, the Centre of Innovation and Technology (CIT) in Jaipur, Rajasthan, the listed company told stock exchanges.
The company said that having received the certification, it can now embark on manufacturing the certified model for commercial sale. Hero MotoCorp expects to get the firstmover advantage with its BS-VI offering in its best-seller 'Splendor' range of motorbikes.
