Soon, tanking up the car or buying diesel to run the generator may no longer entail a trip to the nearest petrol pump. The government is exploring the possibility of allowing all petroleum products — not just LPG cylinders — to be delivered at consumers’ doorstep.
“Options [are] being explored where petro products may be door-delivered to consumers on pre-booking. This would help consumers avoid spending excessive time and long queues at fuel stations,” Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan said on Friday, according to tweets put out by the Petroleum Ministry.
He also said the government was not in favour of petrol pumps being shut on Sundays. The Minister, who chaired a consultative committee meeting with parliamentarians in Srinagar, was reacting to a decision by a section of fuel pump operators to down shutters each Sunday from next month. “The Ministry does not approve of or endorse the move by a section of petrol pump dealers to close down fuel stations on Sundays,” he said.
This consortium of dealers, with a presence in eight States, has said its plan to shut down pumps once a week was inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for conserving fuel in a recent MannKi Baat radio broadcast.
The Petroleum Minister, however, indicated that their enthusiasm was misplaced, as a fuel conservation programme is already in place. “Fuel conservation as a major campaign is being carried out by the Petroleum Conservation Research Association and oil marketing companies under the guidance of the Ministry,” Mr. Pradhan told the MPs.
