MELBOURNE, Nov 18 (Reuters) - The Australian government is...

MELBOURNE, Nov 18 (Reuters) - The Australian government is proposing to tighten gasoline quality requirements by 2025 in line with most other rich countries, with further aid to the country's two refiners, Ampol Ltd (ALD) and Viva Energy (VEA) , to meet the new standard.

Its proposal brings forward by two years the preliminary, undefined plan of the previous government, which lost office in May.

In a proposal released on Friday seeking to meet emissions standards called Euro 6d, the government said its preferred option would be to reduce aromatics in 95 RON gasoline, a premium grade, to a maximum of 35%, with no change to 91 RON and 98 RON gasoline.

The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) has long said Australia needs higher quality fuels in order to spur car manufacturers to send their latest models to the country.

"Currently, we have some of the worse quality petrol in the advanced world," FCAI Chief Executive Tony Weber said in a statement.

He welcomed the proposed action on 95 RON gasoline but said the other grades needed to be adressed, too.

The government said that if it went ahead with its preferred option, it would provide A$26 million ($17 million) each to Ampol and Viva to upgrade their Lytton and Geelong refineries, respectively, to meet the Euro 6d standard.

That assistance would come on top of A$125 million that the government is providing each of the refiners to upgrade their plants to produce ultra-low sulfur gasoline by the end of 2024.

Responses to the proposal are due by Dec. 16. A Viva spokesperson said the refiner would need time to review the government's options. Ampol had no immediate comment.

($1 = 1.4916 Australian dollars)