'CAFE Weight Relief For Small Cars Will Favour One Firm'

'The simple conclusion is that relaxing CAF-3 norms for lesser weight cars will actually hamper R&D in India,' Professor Mahajan said in a post on LinkedIn.

'This sector, which has been showing fairly healthy growth and has also been meeting sustainability and safety standards, will suddenly face the problem of lopsided growth, in favour of low weight cars with no benefit to the consumer and will favour a single company, impacting fair competition, dwarfing the growth of the overall sector. This is also likely to adversely affect transition to electric vehicles,' he added.

The CAFE (corporate average fuel efficiency) framework sets average carbon-dioxide emission targets that each automaker's fleet must meet, measured in grams of carbon dioxide emitted per kilometre (g/km). If a company fails to meet its target, the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), which works under the ministry of power, can impose stiff penalties.In June 2024, the BEE had published the first draft of CAFE-3 norms, which would apply between FY28 and FY32. The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam), after thorough discussions with its members, submitted its initial comments in December 2024, seeking several changes.

A few months later, Maruti Suzuki, India's largest carmaker and the biggest small-car seller, independently approached the BEE requesting relief for small cars through a weight-based exemption. This move has sharply divided the auto industry. -- Business Standard