Petroleum products to be sold on e-commerce platforms soon: Pradhan

Idea was first mooted in a meeting of the consultative committee of members of Parliament in Srinagar on April 21

Soon, every petroleum product would be available on e-commerce platforms. “We have already got permissions to do that. When I presented the idea, a lot of people were skeptical, and now it is becoming a reality,” Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said, while addressing India Mobile Congress in Delhi on Wednesday.

The idea was first mooted by Pradhan at a meeting of the consultative committee of members of Parliament in Srinagar on April 21. The ministry wanted home delivery of fuel as a push to digital transactions, post demonetisation, and reduce the long queues outside fuel outlets.

Last month, oil marketing major Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) had indicated that it was likely to launch home delivery of diesel within two months. However, oil marketing companies were waiting for clearances from the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation.

Out of the 59,595 fuel retail outlets in India, IOC, Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum run more than 54,000. “The size of the entire petroleum industry will come to the tune of Rs 6.5 lakh crore. We have about 40 million consumers coming to about 100,000 retail outlets across the country on a daily basis. We want this consumer base to be linked to information technology and mobile platforms, and want the co-operation of the mobile industry in this,” Pradhan added, speaking to industry stalwarts, including Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani and Bharti Airtel’s Sunil Mittal.

Meanwhile, hitting hard at the state governments on the issue of higher petrol and diesel prices, Pradhan indicated that the decision by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to link oil prices to the global markets was causing some pain now. “The states are asking for central excise duty to be cut, but why don't they cut their own state taxes?” Pradhan asked.

The retail selling price of petrol in Delhi showed a 7.9 per cent increase from Rs 65.23 per litre as on June 17 to Rs 70.41 per litre as on September 26. The time period saw a 14 per cent increase in international petrol prices and also a 40 per cent increase in dealer commissions.