11 PER CENT OUTLETS MANDATORY IN LOW-SERVICE AREAS FOR NEW ENTRANTS
The
Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas, Shri Ram Naik, informed
the Parliamentary Consultative Committee attached to his Ministry
that as a part of ushering in complete deregulation in oil sector,
the Government has finalised the obligations incumbent upon new
entrants in the retail trading of transportation fuels such as
petrol and diesel. The companies interested in entering this segment
of hydrocarbon industry are required to set up at least 11 per
cent of their total proposed outlets in low service areas including
remote/far-flung and hilly areas. This criterion is based on
the existing strength of the outlets in such areas. It may be
recalled that the marketing of transportation fuels was opened
up on 8th March, 2002 for the participation by private
companies and other PSUs in addition to the existing PSUs namely
Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited,
Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited and IBP. Subsequently,
four companies have applied for authorisation to market transportation
fuels in the country. These are oil PSUs Oil and Natural Gas Corporation
and Numaligarh Refinery Limited and Indian Private companies Reliance
Petroleum Limited and Essar Oil Limited.
Continuing the de-regulation further, Shri Naik
announced that the Dealer Selection Boards (DSBs) have been dissolved
on 9.5.2002 granting complete autonomy to oil PSUs in the selection
of their dealers. The Members of the Consultative Committee welcomed
the decision which they described a prudent measure and expressed
confidence that oil companies would be strengthened. The Minister
introduced Petroleum Regulatory Board Bill 2002 in Lok Sabha on
6th May 2002 to promote healthy competition and maintain
uninterrupted supply of petroleum product in all parts of the
country. The Bill is now open for discussions and debate in the
Parliament and its Committees. For the information of general
public and interested organisations/institutions, the Petroleum
Regulatory Bill 2002 has been put on the internet/web site of
the Ministry - www.petroleum.nic.in
Allaying the concerns raised by the members,
the Minister said that the Government is constantly reviewing
the international oil prices and as and when any intervention
is considered necessary, appropriate measures will be taken. He
informed that the crude oil prices of Indian basket increased
to $23.33 per barrel in the month of March 2002 and $25.02 per
barrel in April 2002 as against $19.34 per barrel on the basis
of which petroleum product prices were revised on 1st
March 2002. The members called for evolving a mechanism to protect
consumers against sudden spurt in international prices of petroleum
products and the need for revision in prices by the oil companies
at a fixed interval.
Speaking about the large gap between domestic
availability and demand of natural gas, Shri Naik informed that
the steel cutting ceremony for LNG ship for transportation of
LNG from Qatar to India would take place in South Korea later
this month. This marks achievement of another milestone in our
endeavour to bring him LNG from abroad as the foundation stone
of LNG import and regassification terminal was laid on 28th
January 2002. This project involving an investment of about Rs.1,500
crore has enlisted completion of 30% of the physical work and
the first shipment is expected to arrive in December 2003.
Replying to the issues raised by members Shri
Naik asserted that Government is committed to ensure viability
of new LPG distributor by effecting transfer of LPG connections
from existing dealer pertaining to area of operation of new dealers.
He said three reviews have already been undertaken and another
such review would be made by the end of this month for effective
implementation of Government directions in this regard.
Shri Santosh Kumar Gangwar, Minister of State
for Petroleum & Natural Gas, Shri B.K. Chaturvedi, Secretary,
Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas also attended the meeting.
In addition senior officers of the Ministry, CMDs and other senior
officers of Oil PSUs attended the meeting.
The following Members of the Committee attended
the meeting: Shri Jaswant Singh Bishnoi, Dr. Laxminarayan Pandey,
Manibhai R. Chaudhari, Prof. Rasa Singh Rawat, Shrichand Kriplani,
Ram Singh Kaswan, N.H.Diwathe, Kishan Singh Sangwan, Col. D.R.
Shandil, Nagmani, Dr. Sushil Kumar Indora, K.K. Kaliappan, Lakshman
Seth, Ram Sajiwan, Prakash Paranjpe, Ram Jeevan Singh, M.H.Gavit,
N.T. Shanmugam, Harpal Singh Sathi, and Smt. Preeneet Kaur (All
from Lok Sabha) Prof. Amar Singh, Prof. Ram Deo Bhandari, A. Vijayaraghavan,
N.R. Dasari and Rajubhai Parmar (all from Rajya Sabha).
