Huge Investments Needed to Fund Fuel Upgradation: Oil Secretary

New Delhi: Supply of Euro-IV grade petrol and diesel by 2017 and Euro-V fuel by 2020 will require very huge investments in upgrading oil refineries and ways are being looked at financing them, Oil Secretary Saurabh Chandra has said.

The committee on Auto Fuel Vision & Policy 2025, led by Saumitra Chaudhuri, former Planning Commission member, suggested that fuels should meet Euro-IV emission norms across the country by 2017 and Euro-V standards by 2020.

Speaking at SIAM Auto Summit, he said the report has been put on the website for comments but not many have commented.

"We would be happy if we could get SIAM comments. It talks about introduction of BS-IV (Euro-IV) by 2017 and BS-V (Euro-V) by 2020. BS-V requires very heavy investments. There are suggestions on how to investments going," Mr Chandra said.

The panel has suggested raising petrol and diesel prices by 75 paise a litre each to fund nationwide fuel standards upgrade to eliminate cancer-causing particle emissions by 2020.

It estimated that upgrading refineries to produce Euro-V equivalent petrol and diesel will need an investment of Rs 80,000 crore. This cost can be met by the 75 paise levy on petrol and diesel, it said.

"We would be very happy that SIAM, heavy industry department and petroleum ministry join hands to take care of the concerns of the environmentalists and also to have more fuel efficient engines so that the conservation efforts are also put in place," Mr Chandra said.

BS VI emission norms are expected to come into effect from April, 2024. At present, 26 cities, including Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Ahmedabad and Lucknow, use Euro-IV equivalent fuels, also known as BS-IV fuels, while motorists in the rest of the country use BS-III fuels.