RC Bhargava says CAFE norms favour big cars; urges fair, neutral policy for all vehicles

 RC Bhargava, Chairman, Maruti Suzuki India 
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Any policy or regulation should be neutral, and there should be no discrimination either in favour of or against any class of vehicles, unless the government itself mandates and clearly says it is favouring a particular size of a vehicle, RC Bhargava, Chairman, Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL), told businessline on Wednesday.

The statement comes amid industry submissions on draft Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency (here CAFE-3) standards for four-wheelers, which would run from April 1, 2027, until March 31, 2032.

Bias in CAFE norms

“The norms of CAFE, which have been framed, actually are more favourable for bigger cars. As the weight gets less, the norms become less and less favourable for smaller cars. So, there is a bias in the entire system in favour of heavier cars. I don’t understand why that should be so, and how it is justified,” Bhargava said.

Bhargava said the first draft policy, released in December 2024 by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), favoured only bigger cars, and the latest one, released in September, included small cars, which was a good step.

“So what the Power Ministry (BEE) is doing now is, I think it’s a small step, but in the right direction. It’s not a full step, it’s not a full correction of the CAFE norms, but at least it’s a beginning. That’s all. Who’s supporting or who’s not supporting is actually not really relevant. I am really not bothered about that because I am more bothered about what is right and what is wrong, that is what is important,” he said.

Industry divided

After several rounds of discussions over more than a month, the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) recently submitted its comments to the BEE on the draft CAFE-3 norms. As there was no consensus amongst the members, the industry body left it to the government to decide on the norms.

While companies like Maruti Suzuki India, Toyota Kirloskar Motor, Honda Cars India and Renault India are on one side supporting small cars, others, including Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, Hyundai Motor India and Kia India, are supporting weight reduction for bigger vehicles in the draft CAFE-3 norms.

The revised draft of the CAFE-3 norms provided a weight-based exemption for petrol-powered vehicles with a weight of up to 909 kg, an engine capacity of 1200 cc, and a length of up to 4,000mm. These vehicles would receive an additional 3 gm/kg deduction in the total carbon dioxide calculation.

Need for fairness

“CAFE norms are there for long time now…the regulation should not be biased in favour of anybody. These norms are biased in favour of big cars and therefore they are inappropriate…You want CAFE to improve efficiency, to reduce emissions, how does this norm, which favours bigger/ heavier cars help?,” Bhargava added.

Published on November 12, 2025