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Chief of the Army Staff Gen Dhiraj Seth launched indigenously developed Xtreme Weather Grade (XWG) Diesel in New Delhi, jointly developed by the Indian Army and Oil Marketing Companies.
XWG Diesel remains effective down to -42°C, is BS-VI compliant and meets IS 1460:2025 specifications, and needs no engine modification in existing Army vehicles.
The fuel was developed within a year and also has civilian applications in high-altitude and severe-winter regions.
Conventional diesel contains paraffin wax that crystallises and clogs fuel filters at very low temperatures, risking engine stalls in high-altitude, snow-bound terrain such as Siachen or Ladakh. XWG Diesel is reformulated to resist this waxing down to -42°C, removing the earlier need to keep engines idling or use heaters overnight to prevent fuel gelling.
Simple Analogy: It is the diesel equivalent of switching to winter-grade engine oil — the same base fuel, reformulated so it does not thicken in extreme cold.
Professional head of the Indian Army
GS Paper 3 > Defence Indigenisation & Science-Tech Applications
Occasional — defence indigenisation items surface regularly but this specific product is a one-off so far
Xtreme Weather Grade Diesel — an indigenously developed fuel effective down to -42°C, jointly developed by the Indian Army and Oil Marketing Companies
A list notified by the Department of Defence Production specifying items the armed forces may no longer import beyond a given timeline, to drive domestic manufacturing