New Delhi, Apr 20: In reaction to PM Narendra Modi’s statement of conserving oil to save environment during his recent ‘Man Ki Baat’ session, petrol pump stations in almost eight states in the country have decided and will be closing down their outlets on every Sunday beginning from May 14.
Stating the same, Suresh Kumar, the executive committee member of the Indian petroleum dealers added that this move was to be implemented by the fuel outlets long ago but then the Oil Marketing companies had asked them to not do so but now nothing to stop the ‘Sunday shut’. Suresh Kumar is also the VP of Tamil Nadu Petroleum Dealers Association. Kumar further went onto say that 20,000 petrol pump stations in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Puducherry, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra and Haryana would be shut down. Although with this move, in Tamil Nadu the petroleum dealers will have to incur a loss of Rs 150 cr but atleast this would be tolerable as there has been a sharp decline in sales on Sunday by 40%. On being asked whether the OMC’s are now supporting this move, Kumar said that the OMC’s will soon be informed about the same. Also, he said that every particular fuel station has about 15 staff but on Sundays and on holidays, there will be just one staff available at each station to provide fuel in case of emergencies only. On asking about the the hike in margin by the OMCs to the petroleum outlets, Kumar stated that discussions are going on on this and the association will soon announce their decision in this regard.
