Euro IV fuel will be introduced in Chennai from April 1, said D.S.L. Prasad, Executive Director, Indian Oil Corporation and State Level Co-ordinator, Petroleum Conservation and Research Association, here on Monday.
Speaking at the inaugural function of the Oil and Gas Conservation Fortnight, Mr. Prasad said the sulphur content in the new fuel would be far less compared to the existing one thus reducing emission levels apart from being environment friendly. Similarly, the oil industry has plans to introduce Euro III diesel from July in the city, he said.
The Oil companies were also in the process of manufacturing fuel efficient gas stoves, which would be introduced soon. The efficiency would be 68 per cent and stoves with more than 70 per cent fuel efficiency would be given a five star rating, he said.
The State Transport Department was the biggest consumer and customer of oil companies, said Transport Minister, K.N. Nehru. With the use of high quality fuel, the State Transport Corporations were able to save nearly Rs. 150 crore annually. Using the high power diesel, the Corporations were able to save fuel to the tune of Rs. 48 lakh a day. In the last three years the State government had increased its fleet strength to 13,152, he said.
Talking about the Transport Corporation buses, Mr. Nehru said about 2.04 crore passengers used the buses everyday. In an attempt to improve fuel efficiency, the Transport Department had reduced the life span of buses from six years to four and half years, he said. Tamil Nadu State was the second Stae in the nation to own the largest number of fleets through various corporations.
On the occasion the Minister had appealed to the oil industry to lay pipelines for supply of fuel to the Transport Corporations as in Mumbai. Such an effort would further reduce the fuel transportation cost, which in turn would help in reducing the emission levels, he added.
N.S. Ramu, General Manager (Retail), Bharat Petroleum Corporation and S.K. Saha, Deputy General Manager, Gas Authority of India, were among those who spoke.
