Government Notifies CAFE-III Norms Targeting About 17% Better Car Fuel Efficiency by 2032

Key facts

• The Indian government has notified tighter Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE-III) norms for passenger vehicles, targeting a 16.7% improvement in fleet-average fuel consumption over five years.
• The CAFE-III norms will come into effect from April 1, 2027 and remain in force through March 31, 2032.
• The benchmark for average fuel consumption will tighten progressively from 3.996 litres per 100 km in 2027-28 to 3.327 litres per 100 km in 2031-32.
• The reference vehicle weight has been raised to 1,229 kg from 1,082 kg, giving relatively softer targets for lighter vehicles and stricter requirements for heavier ones.
• Battery electric and range-extended electric vehicles get a 3.0 volume multiplier, plug-in hybrids and strong flex-fuel ethanol hybrids 2.5, strong hybrids 1.6 and flex-fuel vehicles 1.1 in fleet-average calculations.
• The list of recognised fuel-saving technologies expands from four to 12, allowing a reduction of 1 gram of CO2 per km per eligible technology, capped at 9 g/km; eligible technologies include start-stop systems, regenerative braking, LED lighting and high-efficiency air-conditioning.