India to propose ban on petcoke as a fuel

India's government plans to propose banning burning petroleum coke as a fuel nationwide to comply with a Supreme Court request as part of a long-running case to clean the country's air, two government sources said on Friday.

The government proposal follows a ban ordered by the Supreme Court in October on burning petroleum coke in the region around the capital of New Delhi.

An oil refinery by-product, petroleum coke, or petcoke, is used as a fuel because of its higher energy content than coal, but it releases huge carbon dioxide.