Is India’s oil industry prepared for Bharat Stage VI emission standards?

F&L Asia Ltd., the Hong Kong-based organizer of F&L Week 2016, announced that Indian Oil Corp. (IOC) R&D Centre’s newly appointed Executive Director SSV Ramakumar, will make a live broadcast via webinar on March 11, 2016 on the Indian oil industry’s preparedness for Bharat Stage VI emission standards.

F&L Week 2016 is happening this week, from March 8-11, at the Regent Singapore. This premier annual event for the Asian fuels and lubricants industry has unveiled a spectacular line-up of speakers for its 2016 edition.

Recently, the government of India declared that the country will leapfrog to BS-VI, which is equivalent to Euro VI, from the existing BS-IV (Euro IV) emission and fuel quality norms by April 2020. This leap purports a reduction of 68% of NOx emissions and 80% of particulate matter from diesel engine cars and a modest 25% of NOx from petrol cars.

Currently, only the national capital region and the entire Northern India is on BS-IV emission norm compliance. From April 1, 2017, the entire country would move to BS-IV fuel quality and emission norms.

India’s oil and automotive industries are faced with significant challenges in meeting BS-VI emission and fuel quality norms by April 2020. Conservatively, it has been estimated that state-owned oil companies will have to invest USD 4.3 billion to upgrade their refineries to meet BS-VI standards.

Ramakumar’s comprehensive presentation will tackle a host of issues, including not only fuel quality, but also lubricant quality. BS-VI emission norms, coupled with impending fuel economy targets, pose twin challenges for automotive lubricants. To ensure compatibility with after-treatment devices, lubricants must be based on low-sulphated ash, phosphorus and sulphur (low SAPS) additive chemistries. Further, to obtain fuel economy benefits, they should have lower viscosity.

To listen to this first-ever worldwide broadcast, register here.