"We will start supplying petrol with the reduction of sulphur content of about 66 per cent and diesel of 85 per cent from April 1 onwards as per schedule", CPCL MD K Balachandran told reporters at it's refinery unit in Manali near here.
The company would initially use its revamped existing facilities at the Manali refinery unit to supply the Euro IV norm fuel since the massive Diesel Hydrotreating (DHDT) Reactor, installed at the unit for the purpose, would be commissioned in July, he said.
The DHDT unit, weighing 614 tonnes, had been designed by French company Axens for stepping up the quality of fuel levels as per the Auto Fuel Policy (prescribed by government).
Terming the installation (of the Reactor) as a "very difficult" task, he said it was "successfully" completed. "The erection of the reactor costing Rs 50 crore was part of our Rs 2,615 crore auto-fuel quality Upgradation project".
Elaborating on reduction of sulphur content, he said it would be brought down to 50 PPM from the current 350 PPM in diesel, while in petrol it would be reduced from 150PPM to 50 PPM under the Euro IV norms.
Larsen and Toubro has manufactured the 42-metre tall reactor at its Hazira unit in Gujarat which took 21 months for completion. It was the heaviest in the refinery, he said.
However, for the transportation of the equipment from Gujarat, the company had spent around Rs 84 lakh as it was shipped from Mumbai to Chennai and from Chennai Port Trust to the Refinery. It was carried on a wide tractor having 420 wheels and three 550 bhp engine for road transport which required removal of 28 lamp posts and two traffic signals at important intersections, CPCL Director (Technical) S Chandrasekaran said.
The Reactor has a capacity of 1.8 MMTPA, handles hydrocarbons and hydrogen at high temperature and pressure, he said, adding the life of the reactor was more than 25 years. According to the Auto-Fuel Policy, 13 mega cities already have Bharat Stage III emission regulations. These cities, including Chennai and Bangalore would meet Bharat Stage IV norms from April 2010 and the rest of the country will upgrade to Bharat Stage III regulations.