"SPEED" -- THE NEW GENERATION
FUEL – LAUNCHED IN DELHI
Shri
Ram Naik, Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas, launched the
BPCL’s "SPEED" – the New General Fuel – in Delhi today making
it only the second city in the country after Mumbai where the
fuel was launched on 9.7.2002. The launch of the new fuel took
place at M/s Gymkhana Service Station, a Retail Outlet of Bharat
Petrolem Corporation Limited (BPCL). Shri Jag Mohan, Minister
of Tourism & Culture, Shri Santosh Kumar Gangwar, Minister
of State for Petroleum & Natural Gas, Shri Ram Bhaj, Local
MLA, Shri S. Behuria, CMD BPCL and Shri Bhupinder Singh Suri,
owner of the BPCL retail outlet, were present. Speaking on the
occasion Shri Naik said that the owners of new generation vehicles
would now get the Premium Petrol pre-mixed with the multi-functional
additives which used to be earlier added separately for enhanced
performance of vehicles. Besides convenience, Shri Naik said that
the fuel would provide benefits like better combustion, low carbon
deposit, maximum power, better mileage and reduced smoke and emissions
for a cleaner and greener environment.
Shri
Naik further said that perceptible improvement in environment
in the Capital can be attributed more to the cleaner diesel and
petrol with only 0.05 per cent sulphur content in the last two
years as against earlier 0.25 per cent. Out of about 25 lakh vehicles
in Delhi only about 55000 vehicles run on CNG which constitute
2 per cent of the total vehicular population. "Therefore, to conclude
that the reduction in air pollutants from vehicles is due to CNG
is a myth in view of a very small fraction of CNG vehicles", Shri
Naik observed. He reiterated that a huge amount of about Rs. 10000
crore has been spent on improving fuel quality to meet the Bharat
Stage II Level Norms in Metro cities. An additional investment
of Rs. 15000 crores in refinery would be required to meet Bharat
Stage II Norms in the entire country. Further Euro-III quality
emission norms for all categories of vehicles would be introduced
in 4 Metros and Bangalore, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad by 1st
April 2005 and the entire country by the year 2010.
Presiding
over the function, Shri Jag Mohan described the new fuel as another
milestone for cleaner environment in the Capital City. But he
cautioned that this alone would not help us to achieve objective
of better civic life for all, much requires to be done on other
fronts also. Today, the civil amenities such as drinking water,
power supply, cleanliness, public health, etc., face frequent
breakdowns due to various non-permissible activities, such as
illegal construction. Due to the actions of some unscrupulous
elements the law abiding citizens are also made to suffer, he
added.
Shri
Santosh Kumar Gangwar emphasised the commitment of the oil industry
to the customers and the community by continuously striving for
making available better fuel and efficient service. Today’s launch
of the new generation fuel has rightly demonstrated the concern
of Bharat Petroleum in particular and Oil Industry in general
to move in accordance with or possibly ahead of time.
Shri
Behuria said a lot of new generation vehicles like Honda, Ford,
Hyundai etc., need additives for their vehicles. By launching
"Speed", at such an affordable price, BPCL is providing its customers
with an additive that would enhance the performance of the vehicle
and reduce costs.
Currently there are
a large number of customers, mostly owners of "new generation"
vehicle who use fuel additives in order to enhance their vehicles’
performance. Among other marketers, BPCL, along with Iftex, a
private company markets co-branded Bharat Iftex additives through
its retail network. The product is today marketed in small packages
from retail outlets and is poured into the fuel tanks by customers
at the time of re-fuelling. The introduction of "Speed" – Premium
Petrol -- would eliminate the tedious process of purchase, storage
and the need to remember to pour in a measured quantity at the
time of every filling. "Speed" costs Rs. 1.32 per litre more i.
e. Rs 30.50 per litre, than the price of the conventional one
and will be available in 16 retail outlets located in different
parts of Delhi. BPCL plans to make available this fuel gradually
in rest of the country. Speed has been sourced from Chevron Texaco
Co.
