BPCL launches low smoke superior kerosene oil for Indian Army

New Delhi: Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) on Friday 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 alleviate the issues related to smoke and smell in use of SKO.

Normal Kerosene emits substantial smoke, which poses 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.

BPCL's CMD Vetsa Ramakrishna Gupta (additional charge) reflected on BPCL's proud association with the Army which has strengthened over the years and expressed confidence that the same will grow over the years with the strong partnership and value adding initiatives. Lt Gen MKS Yadav, echoed the sentiments and fondly remembered BPCL's special efforts in commencing HSD (Winter Grade) supplies in Eastern Command. He complimented BPCL for launching the LSLA grade which will surely go a long way in improving the conditions for our forces at forward locations.

The first lorry carrying the LSLA grade SKO, from our Jammu Depot, was flagged-off today virtually by Lt Gen Manoj KS Yadav, SM, Director General of Supplies & Transport, Integrated HQ of MoD and Mr VRK Gupta, Director (Finance) with additional charge of C&MD and HR in the presence of Sanjay Khanna, Director (Refineries), Sukhmal Jain, Director (Marketing) and Maj Gen Ashok Choudhary, VrC, ADGST (FT).

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 & Eastern commands. Northern command consumes higher quantity of about 45 TKL/A. The low smoke kerosene is a big step towards providing a cleaner fuel to the Nation's Bravehearts.

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 & Aromatic content and conducted field trials at Karu (Leh -Ladakh) and Gangtok.

Upbeat with the results of the successful trials, BPCL's I&C unit has embarked on a tailored logistics arrangement and accordingly a batch has been moved to the Jammu depot. Regular supply of the upgraded SKO to the Indian Army shall commence soon. BPCL is also proudly associated with Army Core 14 at Leh, where the Corporation has installed 'Eternal flame' wherein continuous supply of LPG is provided.

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