In a major effort to deal with pollution menace, the Centre told the Supreme Court on Wednesday that environment-friendly Bharat Standard-VI auto fuel will be available at every pumping station of the national Capital from April 1, 2018. Earlier, this fuel was supposed to reach Delhi only by April 2020.

In an affidavit, the Centre said oil marketing companies supplying auto fuel to the city have confirmed they are equipped to supply the clean fuel two years ahead of schedule. The decision to advance the earlier date came at a recent meeting held by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas with the public sector Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs).

To fast-track its anti-pollution drive, the Centre had asked OMCs to consider revising the deadline to April 1, 2018. On receiving confirmation from the OMCs — Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum, Hindustan Petroleum, Reliance Industries Limited and Essar Oil Limited, the Centre filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court on Wednesday to this effect.

The affidavit by the Petroleum Ministry states, “All the OMCs having retail outlets in Delhi have confirmed that BS-VI auto fuels will be supplied in their retail outlets in NCT of Delhi with effect from April 1, 2018.”

Earlier, the court passed an order on February 5, 2018, where Bench of Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta, demanded information on whether the BS-VI fuels will be available in Delhi from this year. Even the Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority assisting the apex court submitted a comprehensive action plan to tackle Delhi’s pollution woes which included early introduction of BS-VI fuel.

The Centre said, “Taking into account the serious pollution level in Delhi and adjoining areas, the possibility of pre-poning the introduction of BS-VI auto fuels in NCT Delhi was explored by this Ministry in consultation with public sector OMCs. After considering the environmental benefits of early introduction of BS-VI fuels, it was decided to prepone the supply of BS-VI in Delhi from April 1, 2018 itself and necessary directions were issued to OMCs by letter dated November 15, 2017.”

What this means to the denizens is huge. Presently, the auto fleet in the Capital runs on BS-IV standard and by introduction of BS-VI fuel, the pollution emission will be cut by nearly 80 per cent. According to Centre for Science and Environment, the sulphur level emitted from the fuel will be five times less and the particulate matter (PM) emission will also drop significantly.

The issue of turning the auto fleet in the country to the best available standards of auto fuels has occupied the minds of the Government. This was the reason the Centre decided last year to skip one stage from BS-IV to BS-V and directly jump to BS-VI. This required vehicle manufacturers to produce engines which are BS-VI compliant. Once that was achieved, a confirmation was needed from OMCs on sufficient supply of the BS-VI fuel. With the confirmation now in place, Delhi will enter the big green league, with other cities expected to follow suit.