Indian Oil Corporation in fuel switch drill

Indian Oil plans to set up a diesel exhaust fluid plant in Bengal at an investment of around Rs 150 crore to support the introduction of Bharat Stage-VI compliant fuel from April 1, 2020. The investment is part of the company’s expansion plans in the state across businesses.

Indian Oil officials on Friday said all its 1,200 retail outlets in Bengal would sell BS-VI compliant fuel from next April to ensure lower sulphur emission. Several automobile manufacturers have already introduced cars with BS-VI engines.

The non-BS-VI compliant diesel engines are likely to use diesel exhaust fluids (DEF) to bring down emission to acceptable levels. The company expects a demand for DEF after the shift to the new fuel standard. The diesel-to-petrol consumption ratio in the state for IOC is almost 4:1.

“We are planning to put up a new unit at Budge Budge. It would take an investment of around Rs 150 crore and the plant is expected to come up in a couple of years,” said Pritish Bharat, executive director, IOC’s Bengal state office.

The company is also augmenting its biofuel and ethanol capacities across its terminals in Bengal by around 5,000 kilolitres within a year. This would involve an investment of around Rs 200 crore.

“Our refineries are gearing up to supply BS-VI compliant fuel and the Haldia refinery would also be ready,” said Bharat.

The company had earlier said it would spend around Rs 7,000 crore to expand the capacity of the Haldia refinery to 8 million tonnes (mt) from 7.5 mt and also upgrade to BS-VI fuel standards.

Further, Indian Oil is planning to commission 100 retail outlets in the state by 2019-20 at an estimated investment of Rs 100 crore.

In the pipeline is a new Indane bottling plant at Kharagpur by March 2021 at an investment of Rs 163 crore.

“With the recent Ujjwala drives, LPG penetration in Bengal has moved up to 93.9 per cent, up 6 per cent since last year, propelling the state towards cleaner fuel and healthier kitchens,” said Bharat.

Indian Oil has equipped 700 of its retail outlets in the state with solar panels at an estimated investment of Rs 5 lakhs per outlet and 300 more are to be fitted with such panels this year.

Indian Oil Corporation