IOC rolls out winter-grade diesel for Ladakh; Shah says committed to development of region

NEW DELHI: State-owned Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) on Sunday began supplying a special winter-grade diesel to Ladakh, solving technical issues faced in fuel supply to high-altitude regions during extreme winter conditions. While IOC’s Panipat refinery had flagged off the first consignment of truck carrying the special grade diesel last week, Home Minister Amit Shah presided over a function on Sunday to launch the fuel in the Ladakh region through a video link, an official statement said here.
Motorists in high-altitude sectors such as Ladakh, Kargil, Kaza and Keylong face the problem of freezing of diesel in their vehicles when winter temperatures drop to as low as minus 30-degrees Celsius.
“IOC has come up with an innovative solution to this problem by introducing a special winter-grade diesel with a low pour-point of minus 33-degrees Celsius, which does not lose its fluidity function even in extreme winter conditions,” the statement said.