This will go a long way in improving the serving environment and alleviating the issues related to smoke and smell in the use of SKO

New Delhi: Indian state refiner Bharat Petroleum Corp announced the launch of low-smoke superior kerosene oil (SKO) for the Indian Army in Jammu.

BPCL has emerged as the first OMC to commence the supply of the new LSLA grade SKO supplies to the Army, which will go a long way in improving the serving environment and alleviating the issues related to smoke and smell in the use of SKO.

“Normal kerosene emits substantial smoke, which poses a health hazard to the Army personnel who use it at higher altitudes, where oxygen level is very low. Hence, the low-smoke kerosene is a big step towards providing a cleaner fuel to our soldiers operating in very tough terrains," the company said in a statement.

“Supplying Low Smoke Superior Kerosene Oil to the army at a high altitude is our way to thank them for their service to the nation and a small gesture to make their life a bit easy," said Sukhmal Jain, Director (Marketing) at Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited.

“Currently BPCL has a share of about 16% with the Indian Army, supplying close to 70 TKL of petroleum products annually and BPCL has partnered with Indian Army in provision of over 100 consumer pumps and “Scattered Storage locations" at strategic locations besides actively pursuing key initiatives," said S. Jena, Executive Director (Industrial & Commercial), BPCL.

SKO supply to the Army is vital as it is consumed as fuel in the room heaters (Bukhari) at the high-altitude camps. The Army consumes about 70 TKL/A of SKO for their Northern and Eastern commands. Northern command consumes a higher quantity of about 45 TKL/A. The low-smoke kerosene is a big step towards providing cleaner fuel.

During the product innovation process, BPCL’s Industrial and Commercial (I&C) SBU in association with the Corporate Research & Development Centre (CRDC) and Mumbai Refinery offered the upgraded SKO with tailored parameters related to smoke point and aromatic content and conducted field trials at Karu (Leh -Ladakh) and Gangtok, it said.