One nation, one fuel: India keeps BS-IV date

BHUBANESWAR: India kept its date on Saturday for becoming a one-nation-one-fuel market, with the entire country switching to BS-IV grade petrol and diesel. Oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan announced the arrival of cleaner fuels at a function here, setting the stage for leapfrogging to BS-VI by April 2020.

“We begin a new era of clean energy, which will substantially reduce pollution in our cities. It’s a major contribution to the Swachh Bharat initiative,” Pradhan said in the state capital, followed by 12 cities through video conference.

Coming ahead of the BJP’s national executive meeting on April 15-16, Pradhan’s choice of Bhubaneswar for the launch and the fact that it coincided with Utkal Dibas (Odisha Day) clearly underlined an attempt at political outreach in his home state. This is reinforced from the fact that Odisha was among the states being supplied BS-IV fuel since 2015.


The choice of 12 cities for video-conferencing too indicated an attempt to drive home the Modi government’s development plank. For example, they included Varanasi, the PM’s constituency, and Gorakhpur, Yogi Aditya Nath’s Lok Sabha constituency before he became UP CM, Imphal, where the BJP formed the government last month, and Madurai in Tamil Nadu where the BJP sees an opportunity to spread its wings.

No wonder Pradhan used the occasion to launch a broadside against the BJD government in Odisha, especially on the issue of withdrawing tax sops to IndianOil’s Paradip refinery. “The state government had committed the tax break. Now they have scrapped them to hit back at me. I humbly want to tell the CM, if you have a political difference with me, punish me. Why are you punishing IOC or the state’s youth by removing their job prospects... I commit from this public stage that if the state government comes up with an employment programme, IOC will fully cooperate. Let’s keep politics aside for the state’s growth,” he said.

He also said the state’s complaint of Centre reducing its kerosene quota was politically motivated. “Villages are being electrified. LPG connections are being distributed under Ujjwala. Obviously those who are getting electricity connection and LPG do not need kerosene. Today, the state’s kerosene quota works out to 40 litres per family. Let the state government furnish a list of those who need kerosene.”

Pradhan said that migration to BS-IV fuel showed India’s resolve to reduce emissions. “Even though we (India) are not a major polluting country, we shall stand by the PM’s commitment made at COP-21 meet in Paris that India will substantially reduce carbon emissions and greenhouse gas emissions in the coming years. By 2020, when there will still be many countries running on BS-IV or V, India will run on BS-VI.”