BENGALURU: Starting April 1, pollution from vehicle emissions will go down because of superior-quality Bharat Stage-6 fuel being introduced at all stations, following a Supreme Court order.The upgraded fuel will be supplied to all motorists at the same cost, said D L Pramodh, state-level coordinator for oil industry, on Friday. By changing from BS-4 to BS-6, the sulphur content in the fuel will drop from 50 ppm (parts per million) to 10 ppm. There will also be a reduction in nitrous oxide and particulate matter in the atmosphere, he said.
The exercise to change the fuel started a month ago and so far, the samples from over 4,000 fuel stations in the state have shown reduction in sulphur content. All fuel companies together have invested around Rs 27,000 crore, of which Rs 17,000 crore is from Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) alone, he said.Damodhar, who is also the Executive Director and state head of IOCL, said that vehicles running on BS-4 and other engines need not have to make any changes as the fuel will be of superior quality.
On the increase in fuel prices in the coming days, he said that the government will take a decision and nothing has been decided yet. The companies have incurred costs on upgrading refineries, catalysts and re-sulphurisation.He had announced in early February that IOCL had entered into an MoU with the state government to set up an oil terminal at Chitradurga with an investment of Rs 500 crore. The agreement was signed at the Invest Karnataka summit.
IOCL is also partnering with many agencies to set up 34 electric vehicle stations in the state, of which 26 will be charging stations and eight will be battery swapping sites at the existing fuel stations. Also, two mobile fuel dispensers will start operating in Bengaluru and eight more in the state by March 31, where fuel will be supplied at the doorsteps of consumers.
Adhering to the National Green Tribunal guidelines, IOCL is investing Rs 10 crore on vapour recovery system where volatile compounds, including Benzil, are controlled while fuelling vehicles and are not released into the atmosphere. From March 31, IOCL will ensure that the exercise starts at their plant in Devanakunte and at 17 fuel stations in Bengaluru.