Assured supply of BS-VI fuel by 2020: Minister
New Delhi, Sep 6 : Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Thursday assured the automobile industry of a steady supply of Bharat Stage-6(BS-6) emission norms compliant fuel by 2020.
The Minister for Petroleum & Natural Gas and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship was speaking at the 58th annual convention of the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM).
"BS-6 is already in the national capital and there shall be no uncertainty from our side on the things decided together (with multi-ministry and the SIAM association) that from April 1, 2020 supply for BS-6 fuel will be done and there shall not be any change on that front," Pradhan said.
"The industry must go ahead with its plans for the next 10 years without fear of any intervention or change."
The Indian auto industry will fully migrate to manufacturing of only BS VI compliant vehicles on a pan India basis from April 1, 2020.
Earlier, the government had decided to "leapfrog directly from BS-IV to BS-VI grade by 1st April, 2020, skipping BS-V altogether."
The BS-IV grade transportation fuels were rolled out across the country from April 1, 2017.
According to Pradhan, the advances and progress made on generating "Bio-CNG and Bio-Fuel" will make these fuel types cost effective and allow them to compete with electricity as alternative sources of energy for vehicles.
On the related developments, the minister informed the convention that city gas network will now be expanded to 300 districts across the country from 73.
"We have already started the 10th round of CGD (city gas distribution). CNG is cleaner and cheaper, therefore we have 1,400 filling stations. We have made a road map to take this number within 10 years to 10,000. The work will start in September," Pradhan said.
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Two African nationals linked to 12 cyber fraud complaints nationwide held in Delhi
New Delhi (PTI): Two African nationals have been arrested over suspected involvement in an international cyber fraud racket that allegedly duped victims across multiple states of more than Rs 50 lakh, police said on Thursday.
The accused allegedly impersonated women on online platforms to befriend Indian victims and build emotional relationships. They would later claim to be travelling to India and fabricate stories about being detained at airports or facing immigration issues, seeking money for clearance and other expenses.
Police said the arrests were made following sustained surveillance, technical analysis and verification of suspicious mule bank accounts linked to multiple complaints registered on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP).
According to the police, at least 12 complaints from across states involving defrauded funds exceeding Rs 50 lakh were traced to several bank accounts used by the accused.
"These accounts were opened in different names across various banks and were used to receive money fraudulently obtained from victims," a senior police officer said.
During investigation, six mobile phones and two passports were seized from the accused. Police said the devices contained incriminating chats, details of mule bank accounts and conversations with victims, along with fabricated images related to airports apparently used to mislead targets.
Both accused are also suspected to have links with drug trafficking activities in the Delhi-NCR region and are being probed further, police said, adding that efforts are underway to identify and apprehend other members.
