Switch to clean fuel to come at a cost

The shift to Bharat Stage-VI emission norms from April next year is likely to raise fuel prices as state-owned oil firms look to recover the investments made to upgrade their refineries.

Sources said the state-owned oil firms had written to the petroleum ministry seeking a mechanism to help them recover the cost of shifting to BS-VI, which is the equivalent of Euro-VI.

At present, BS-IV compliant fuels are used. Last year, it was decided to migrate to the BS-VI level from April 2020, leapfrogging the BS-V norms. Under BS-VI norms, petrol and diesel should have sulphur content of 10 parts per million, down from 50 in the fuel currently in use.