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Euro-VI Fuel To Be Supplied In Delhi From April, Says Oil Minister

Euro-VI Fuel To Be Supplied In Delhi From April, Says Oil Minister

In a bid to combat alarming levels of air pollution in the capital city, three states will supply ultra-clean Euro-VI grade petrol and diesel, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said. To meet Delhi's consumption of over 9 lakh tonnes of petrol and 12.6 lakh tonnes of diesel, Mathura refinery in Uttar Pradesh, Bina in Madhya Pradesh and Bhatinda in Punjab will start making Euro-VI grade fuel by mid-January so that supplies to customers start from April 1.

"There is no scope for any doubt or confusion. BS-VI petrol and diesel (equivalent of fuel meeting Euro-VI emission norm) will be supplied in Delhi from April 1. We have done all preliminary work on sourcing of supplies etc," Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan told Press Trust of India.

In 2015 India had decided to switch to Euro-VI emission norm compliant petrol and diesel from April 2020, from the Euro-IV grade at present. While this deadline still stands for the rest of the country, Delhi will be switching to Euro-VI fuel next year to curb pollution levels in the city.

Euro-VI grade fuel contains 10 parts per million (ppm) of sulphur as against 50 ppm in Euro-IV fuels.

"We will be able to meet requirement of Delhi from April 1," IOC Chairman Sanjiv Singh told PTI. "Refineries are very much capable of producing BS-VI grade fuel and we just have to tweak the fuel production slate."

Oil refineries will need to invest Rs 28,000 crore in upgrading petrol and diesel quality to meet cleaner fuel specifications by 2020.

The current BS-IV emission norm was introduced across the country from April 1, 2017.