Delhi to get Euro-VI fuel from April 1; air pollution in mega city set to lessen

State-run oil marketing companies (OMCs) are fully geared to supply Euro-VI grade petrol and diesel in Delhi from April 1 as per the latest measure to tackle air pollution in the national capital, the Indian Oil Corp (IOC) announced on Saturday. In 2015, the government had decided to switch to the Euro-VI emission norm compliant, ABS-VI petrol and diesel from April 1, 2020, from the Euro-IV grade currently in use. The deadline for Delhi had been preponed to April 1, 2018, in view of the highest levels of air pollution in the capital. The Supreme Court ordered a deadline for introducing BS-VI transport fuels in the entire National Capital Region (NCR), including adjoining Ghaziabad, Noida, Gurgaon and Faridabad FOR April 1, 2019, IOC Director (Refineries) B.V. Rama Gopal said at a media briefing in New Delhi.

"The company is upbeat on the roll out of BS-VI fuels from tomorrow (Sunday) in the NCT (national capital territory). All our outlets in Delhi will be replacing the BS-IV fuels," he said. Though most automobiles in Delhi presently use BS-IV compliant engines, the leapfrogging to BS-VI will bring a benefit of "10-20 per cent by reduction in particulate matter" in the atmosphere, he said.

The IOC has made massive investments to be able to produce the improved fuel, the director of refineries said. "An amount of Rs 16,600 crore is being invested in eight refineries that will allow 100 per cent supply of Euro VI fuel across the country from April 1, 2020," Gopal said.

He said Rs 1.06 lakh crore is planned to be spent by IOC on fuel improvement, refinery capacity expansion and upgrade over a five-year period. The nation`s biggest oil marketer, which operates 11 refineries, including two owned by its subsidiaries, registered a record output of 69 million tonnes last year.

The Director also said that a new refinery was being set up in Maharastra`s Ratnagiri district by a joint venture in which IOC has 50 per cent stake and 25 per cent each is held by the state-run Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum.