PSU fuel retailers to set up 2,263 petrol pumps in FY10

State-run fuel retailers Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) will set up 2,263 new petrol pumps in the country during current fiscal, Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Jitin Prasada said today.

In a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha, he said the three oil marketing companies will set up 2,263 new petrol pumps over an above the 35,068 pumps they already own.

IOC has the largest number of petrol pumps at 18,140 while HPCL has 8,539 refuelling stations. BPCL has 8,389 petrol pumps in the country.

Of the 35,068 petrol pumps owned by the state-run firms, the maximum 4,262 are in Uttar Pradesh while Lakshadweep has none. Andaman and Nicobar islands have seven petrol pumps.

Tamil Nadu has the second highest number of petrol pumps at 2,962, followed by 2,921 in Andhra Pradesh, 2,652 in Punjab, 2,343 in Rajasthan and 2,260 in Karnataka.

To a separate question, Prasada said the three firms have proposed to set up 14 more LPG bottling plants in the country. As on April 1, 2009, the three firms were operating 182 LPG bottling plants with a total bottling capacity of 8.9 million tonnes per annum.

Of the new bottling plants, four will be in Maharashtra, two each in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu and one each in Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Karnataka.

The new plants are besides the three under construction plants at Muzzafarpur in Bihar, Baroda in Gujarat and Irumpanam in Kerala.