Oil PSUs to supply BS VI fuels in Delhi from April 1

NEW DELHI: In a bid to control New Delhi’s ever-rising air pollution, state-owned oil firms will supply BS VI (equivalent to Euro VI norms) petrol and diesel at all their 391 pumps in the national capital from April 1, 2018. The early rollout of the cleaner fuel will be available at the prevailing market prices, but is expected to go up in future.“We don’t have plans of passing on the cost to consumers immediately, but in the distant future, we will work out a mechanism to get back the return on investment,” Indian Oil Corp (IOC) Director (Refineries) B V Rama Gopal said. IOC is investing `16,628 crore in upgrading its refineries to produce BS VI emission norm-compliant petrol and diesel, while the overall cost for all the oil marketing companies for the same will be around `28,000-30,000 crore. 

To meet Delhi’s annual consumption of 9.6 lakh tonnes of petrol and 12.65 lakh tonnes of diesel, refineries in Mathura, Panipat, Bina and Bhatinda have started producing BS VI grade fuel. Other refineries are also in the process of being upgraded.After Delhi, cities in the National Capital Region such as Noida and Gurugram, as well as 13 major cities including Mumbai, Chennai and Bengaluru will switch over to BS VI from January 1, 2019. Rest of the country will follow suit from April 2020.

IOCL to invest `1.43 lakh crore to expand facility
A State-run oil and gas giant Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. is on course to invest a whopping `1.43 lakh crore by 2030 in order to boost its petrochemicals production and bring up refining capacity to 150 million tonnes a year.  “We do not want to remain a refining company alone and (we are) venturing into petrochemicals and alternative fuels too,” Director (Refineries) B V Rama Gopal said.