On 19-01-2015, the Central Government amended the Kerosene (Restriction on Use and Fixation of Ceiling Price) Order, 1993. The objective of the amendment is to ease the availability of white Kerosene (market priced Kerosene) for sale in the open market and to reduce demand for diverted PDS Kerosene by improving availability of non-PDS Kerosene in the open market and thus to meet the demand of Kerosene for various legitimate end uses for the industry and for individual consumption by those who can afford it at market price. By virtue of this amendment all the activities of storage, transportation and sale of non-PDS Kerosene have been freed of regulatory control.
Kerosene (Restriction on Use and Fixation of Ceiling Price) Amendment Order, 2015 defines “PDS Kerosene” as the kerosene distributed under the Public Distribution System and “Non-PDS Kerosene” as all kerosene other than PDS kerosene. The amendment provides that Indian Oil Corporation Limited, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation limited and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited shall ensure that quality checks are carried out so that the kerosene meets the specification under Bureau of Indian Standards specification No. IS-1459 in all respects before the indigenously produced kerosene is sold and in case of imported kerosene, before the imported kerosene is discharged into the storage infrastructure at the Port or sold.