TREM Stage-IV emission norms for tractors and farm equipment postponed again

In a boost to tractor and other agricultural equipment manufacturers, the Transport Ministry has deferred the implementation of stricter emission norms by another six months. According to officials in the know, this is on the back of global supply chain issues and demands from manufacturers.

Officials say that this led to consultations within the government which concluded that the global chip shortage, among other factors, is going to hamper the implementation of these norms.
It was initially planned to implement the next stage of emission norms for tractors (TREM Stage-IV) from October 1, 2020. It was later decided to defer this date to October 1, 2021, and then to April 1, 2022. The centre has now decided to make these stricter emission norms applicable from October 1, 2022.

This move will be a relief for manufacturers of agricultural machinery such as tractors, power tillers and combined harvesters.

The centre had released the final rules for emission standards for agricultural tractors in March 2018. With this, India had become the first region outside of the European Union to develop such stringent emission standards. The country took a lead over countries such as the United States, Japan and China in its control of emissions from new diesel powered non-road equipment. 

But the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent global supply chain logjams has raised fears of higher costs and burden on farmers. It is expected that stricter emission norms for farm equipment that conform to Euro Stage IV may result in prices of these equipment being increased by 10-20%.

According to ICRA, these new norms are unlikely to be a major disruptor. The current TREM Stage-III A emission norms are applicable for tractors across horsepower (HP) categories in India. These existing norms were enforced from April 2010 and 2011 in a phased manner. The revised TREM IV emission norms are slated to be applicable for tractors with a capacity more than 50 HP. This is expected to impacting only around 10% of the overall industry volumes.