India sets tighter fuel targets for cars from 2027

India has notified new Corporate Average Fuel Economy rules for passenger vehicles, setting progressively tighter fleet fuel-consumption targets for vehicles manufactured or imported for sale in the country from April 1, 2027, through March 31, 2032. The Ministry of Power’s framework retains enhanced compliance credits for electric vehicles while dropping a proposed separate concession for lightweight petrol cars. The reported benchmark declines from 3.996 litres per 100 kilometres in fiscal 2027-28 to 3.3273 litres per 100 kilometres in fiscal 2031-32, a reduction of about 16.7% between those endpoints. The change is a regulatory target, not a measurement of real-world fuel-economy improvement. Targets are set across manufacturers’ vehicle fleets and tighten year by year during the five-year period. The rules cover new passenger vehicles, including cars and utility vehicles, made or imported for sale in India. The final framework sets a reference vehicle weight of 1,229 kilograms. Compared with the 1,082-kilogram reference under the existing norms, that is an increase of about 13.6%.