(TOI)
The government is working on opening ‘Janaushadhi’ stores at petrol pumps belonging to state-run fuel retailers across the country with a view to making cheap drugs accessible to masses, oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Wednesday.
Oil marketing companies are bringing an ecosystem of non-fuel retail business at petrol pumps through tieups. The Janaushadhi stores under the department of pharmaceuticals in the chemicals & fertilizers ministry will also be opened at the outlets in future,” Pradhan said after the fuel retailers inked MoU with Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL) for selling energy-efficient appliances and LED bulbs from petrol pumps.
EESL is a company promoted by state-run power utilities. It is spearheading the government’s flagship ‘Ujala’ scheme to replace all incandescent and CFL bulbs in the country with LED lamps by 2019. The scheme’s bulk procurement model has reduced LED and appliances prices sharply without any subsidy, helping India save energy and reduce carbon footprint. It now aims at using the same model for electric vehicles.
