Launching the fuel, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said XP100 premium petrol will initially be available at select outlet of IOC in 10 cities -- Delhi, Gurgaon, Noida, Agra, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Mumbai, Pune and Ahmedabad. The fuel is manufactured at IOC's Mathura refinery in Uttar Pradesh and supplied at select petrol pumps, he said.

Octane ratings are measures of fuel stability. It is a measure of a fuel's ability to avoid knock. Knock occurs when fuel is prematurely ignited in the engine's cylinder, which degrades efficiency and can be damaging to the engine. The higher the octane number, the more resistant the petrol mixture is to knock. Worldwide, 100 Octane petrol has a niche market for luxury vehicles that demand high performance and is available only in six countries of USA, Germany, Greece, Indonesia, Malaysia and Israel. At most retail stations, three octane grade are offered, 87 (regular), 89 (mid-grade) and 91-94 (premium).

Pradhan said Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) had recently launched Octane 99 and now IOC has come to the market with XP100. "This is a testimony to India's technological prowess and manufacturing it within our refineries is a shining example of Aatmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India)," he said.

Previously, the nation leapfrogged from BS-IV (Euro-IV) emission compliant fuel to BS-VI from April 1 this year. "This was done by upgrading refineries at an investment of Rs 30,000 crore. And today we are joining the elite group with XP100," he said.

IOC plans to roll out XP100 premium grade petrol in the second phase in Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kochi and Kolkata.