PREFACE

Adulteration of automobile fuels is a menace which takes its toll both in terms of the air quality and loss in tax revenue. Price disparity amongst fuels and fuel intermediates is often sited as a cause for adulteration.

Adulterated fuels deprive the consumers of assured quality fuels and affect engine performance as well as emission performance of vehicles. More importantly, it nullifies the utility of initiatives through tighter emission norms and improved fuel quality.

Realizing the significance of this problem, some efforts have been made in recent years. Setting up of rigorous monitoring and surveillance infrastructure and augmentation of R&D activities in this field along with restructuring the pricing of fuels and petroleum products could help in tackling this problem.

This issue of Parivesh highlights the insights related to fuel adulteration as also the efforts so far taken and requirements to fight this menace. The information contained in this publication has been compiled by Dr.S.A. Dutta,Sr. Project Scientist, Shri R.Debroy, Assistant Environmental Engineer and Ms. Meetu Kapoor, Junior Research Fellow under the guidance of Dr. B.Sengupta, Member Secretary,CPCB.I am grateful to Dr. P.K. Mukhopahyay, Consultant , Petroleum Technology for his critical review and suggestions on the manuscript.

I hope this publication will be helpful to concerned organizations and quality conscious public.