Gujarat has the highest percentage of private oil pumps at 24%, followed by Rajasthan at 14.5%; the former will elect a new legislative assembly by this December, the latter, a year later
The new rules would allow convenience stores, shopping malls and hypermarkets to sell fuels if they are eligible, said an oil ministry source
The decision to absorb Re 1 a litre on petrol and diesel by the three state-run OMCs will also lead to a cut in prices by the private companies
A day before India shifts to a market dynamic system of daily revision of petrol and diesel prices, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan today invited BP plc, Europe's third-biggest oil company, and Reliance Industries to invest in fuel retailing. While RIL already has a fuel retailing license and has some 1,400 petrol pumps on the ground, BP last year got approval to set up petrol pumps in India. "Received CEO of BP Bob Dudley & RIL Chairman Mukesh Ambani. BP and RIL have invested in KG Basin. Invited them to invest in retail as well," Pradhan said in a Twitter post after an 80-minute meeting with the partners. RIL and BP are partners in oil and gas exploration but have no such collaboration in downstream fuel retailing business. BP is the tenth player to enter the lucrative fuel retailing business that is seeing double digit growth, not seen anywhere in the world. Last evening at an industry event, Pradhan had stated that BP as also Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd have been given nod