IOC to sell BS-VI grade fuels from Apr 1

Hyderabad: Catching up with new emission standards adopted by India, Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) and other oil marketing companies (OMCs) will be selling BS-VI grade oils in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh from April 1, 2020, onwards.

OMCs have already been selling BS-VI grade oil in Delhi/NCT from April 1, 2018, and in Rajasthan, UP (NCR) from April 1, 2019.

"From April 1 onwards, entire country will be switching over to BS-VI grade fuels. BS-IV norms began from 2017. India, within a short span of three years, is moving to BS-VI grade skipping BS-V. BS-VI fuel is more advanced and ultra-clean adhering to stringent global quality standards.

India has adopted a more stringent standard for emission control at the earliest to minimise pollution levels for cleaner air," said Sravan S Rao, Executive Director (TS &AP), IOC, who took over as IndianOil's State head for both the Telugu states from Rahul Bhardwaj.

BS-VI sulphur content was reduced to 10 parts per million (PPM) from 50 PPM in BS-IV. This also leads to reduction in other harmful exhaust emissions like NOx, CO, HC and particulate matter.

"While we are in absolute readiness to launch BS-VI statewide in all IndianOil retail outlets of Telangana before the deadline, I would even say confidently that most of the fuel that you are buying now in Telangana from our retail outlets already conforms to BS-VI emission standards though we are yet to declare it as BS-VI fuels, which would be done when the formal launch happens," further added Rao.

IndianOil has advertised for 39 new Indane LPG distributorships and 1,478 petrol outlets. Around 300 out of the total 1,101 petrol pumps are rural outlets.

The active customer base of Indane LPG in Telangana is about 44 lakhs, 42 per cent of the total customer base of 1.08 crore of LPG customers in the state.