Petroleum minister S Jaipal Reddy on Thursday said that adulteration of diesel with kerosene can be prevented by using markers and GPS. He said that his ministry will re-introduce kerosene markers and ask state to fit satellite tracking systems on tankers used by civil supplies departments to transport the fuel.

He assured that central government will provide financial assistance and technology to state governments to avoid the diversion of subsidized Kerosene to adulterate diesel.

Whereas oil company executives said that fitting GPS tracking system on the kerosene tankers will not solve the issue, it is rather price advantage enjoyed by kerosene which prompts adulterators to commit this corruption.

The minister said that increasing the prices of kerosene is not possible so the government should adapt those measures which are practical.

In addition to Jaipal Reddy, Petroleum secretary S Sundareshan also favors installment of satellite tracking systems and specialized locks on tankers. He said that with these measures, tampering would become difficult with petrol and diesel.

Further he said that it is almost impossible to adulterate diesel and petrol till they reach the retail outlets. This means that state government fails to check adulteration on their part. Last year, 59 cases of adulteration were reported which involved 39,000 petrol pumps.