Petroleum Minister Hardeep Puri hails OMCs' moves aimed at reducing fuel prices

New Delhi, Oct 29 (IANS) Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri on Tuesday welcomed the key announcements made by the Oil Manufacturing Companies (OMCs) aimed at reducing the prices of petrol and diesel to benefit the consumers residing in the far-flung and remote areas of the country.

“I welcome the announcement by OMCs to increase the Dealer Commission payable to petrol pump dealers & the decision to undertake intra-state freight rationalisation to benefit consumers located at remote locations (far from Petrol and Diesel depots of OMCs) which will result in a decrease in petrol & diesel prices in several parts of the country. (Decision in poll-bound states and constituencies will be implemented later),” the Union Minister wrote on X.

The Union Minister said that "on the auspicious occasion of Dhanteras, a big gift given by oil companies to petrol pump dealers is heartily welcomed!"

"The demand that was going on for 7 years has been fulfilled! This reflects Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision to bring even far-flung areas at par with the rest of the country in terms of facilities to our citizens, such as the North East Region which is connected with world-class road, air and rail infrastructure," he said.

Hardeep Singh Puri added that the consumers will get better services but there will be no increase in the prices of petrol and diesel.

He said that also a major decision by the oil companies to rationalise inter-state freight movements to benefit consumers located in remote locations far from the petrol and diesel depots of oil marketing companies, adding that it will make petrol and diesel cheaper for consumers in many places.

“For example, in Kunanpally & Kalimela in Odisha's Malkangiri petrol price will reduce by Rs 4.69 & Rs 4.55; and Diesel price will reduce by Rs 4.45 & Rs 4.32, respectively.

"Similarly, price will reduce by Rs 2.09 in petrol price and Rs 2.02 in diesel price in Chhattisgarh's Sukma,” the Union Minister said.

He pointed out that the dealer commission increase will better services to approximately 7 crore citizens "who visit our fuel retail outlets in the country everyday, without increasing fuel prices".

The Union Minister said that the fulfillment of this demand pending for the last 7 years will bring joy and happiness in the lives of Petrol Pump Dealers and nearly 10 lakh staff working at more than 83,000 petrol pumps across the country.

"The way for these historic decisions was paved by positive decisions taken by Modi government and all the Petrol Dealers Associations who came together in our meetings during the last few months and agreed to withdraw all the pending court cases pertaining to issues related to Marketing Discipline Guidelines (MDGs)," the Union Minister said.

Earlier, taking to X, Indian Oil Corp Ltd wrote: "#IndianOil is pleased to announce a revision in the dealer margins (effective from 30th October 2024), following the resolution of a pending litigation. This will have no additional impact on the Retail Selling Price of products. This will further strengthen our collective resolve in enhancing customer service standards and the welfare of staff employed in retail outlets."

“Further, demonstrating the core value of Nation First, our endeavour to provide affordable petrol and diesel across the length and breadth of country on sustained basis has come to fruition. #IndianOil has undertaken intrastate rationalisation of freight which will reduce variation of retail selling price of product across various markets within a state, except in geographies where Model Code of Conduct is in place. Happy festivities!" the Indian Oil added.