Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) has started exports of aviation gasoline, the fuel that fires unmanned aerial vehicles and small planes -- turning a chapter in the nation's fuel history from being a net importer to an exporter. The first consignment of 80 barrels of aviation gas (AV gas), each consisting of 16 kilolitres, was shipped from the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) to Papua New Guinea over the weekend.
This is the first-ever instance of India exporting this fuel, produced at IOC's Vadodara refinery, marking its entry into an estimated $2.7-billion global market. IOC is the sole domestic manufacturer of the fuel, having begun production last September at its Vadodara facility, which has an annual capacity of 5,000 tonne. Till then the country was shipping in fuel from European refiners.
IOC is the largest enterprise in the country and the foremost ranked Fortune Global 500 Company in India and has presence in the complete hydrocarbon value chain from downstream refining & marketing, pipeline transportation, Petrochemicals, E&P and Gas Marketing.
