The Hindu Business Line : Now, markers to check adulteration in diesel, petrol

The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has asked oil companies to add markers — permanent coloured substance — to adulterants, so as to check adulteration of petrol and diesel.

All adulterants will carry markers approved by the Ministry from October, said sources from oil companies.

The adulterants identified are Public Distribution System (PDS) kerosene and naphtha (adulterants in diesel), and aromatics and solvents (adulterants in petrol).

Identifying adulteration

`Marker' is a permanent coloured substance added to the adulterant. The colour retention property of the marker helps identify adulteration. For instance, PDS kerosene will have a blue colouring (blue marker) when sold through ration shops. On mixing with diesel, the resulting product would look different from diesel, indicating adulteration.

It is understood that products with markers will initially be made available at all ISO-certified petrol pumps. At present, adulterators remove temporary colouring from adulterants before mixing them with the pure substance. This ensures no visible differentiation between the pure fuel and the adulterant.

Adding markers will not alter the adulterant's properties and they can be used for their regular purpose, said Mr R. Desikan, Trustee, CONCERT, a non-profit fuel-testing laboratory. CONCERT organised a national seminar on fuel adulteration in July recommending the use of markers.

The Ministry is also introducing marker identification kits to detect adulteration in petrol and diesel. Sources say they will be made available to all fuel testing labs by October. The kits would be made available to the public through retail petrol outlets later this year, said an official of a PSU oil company.

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