(FE)
Following the three successful pilots — one each by the state-run oil marketing companies (OMCs) — to deliver diesel at doorsteps, each of these firms will soon have eight such test projects. While OMCs till now were directly offering the service, start-ups under the supervision of the OMCs, and private fuel retailers such as Reliance Industries and Essar Oil, now renamed Nayara Energy, will also be allowed to offer doorstep delivery of diesel if they show interest and obtain required permissions.
According to a person close to the development, requisite permissions from the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO), which works under the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, have been obtained to scale up pilots. The three earlier pilots in Pune, Mumbai and Delhi have been conducted for three months by Indian Oil, HPCL and BPCL. However, the 24 pilots planned now will likely to be conducted for six months. “These pilots will give a larger sense in terms of whether the project can be implemented across the country,” said the person.
