Hardeep Puri Hails OMCs' Moves Aimed at Reducing Fuel Prices

Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri 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 appreciate the announcements by OMCs regarding the enhancement of the Dealer Commission payable to petrol pump dealers and decision to embark on intra-state freight rationalisation to advantage consumers stationed at remote places (distant from Petrol and Diesel depots of OMCs) which shall lead to the reduction of petrol and diesel prices at many places of the country. (In poll-bound states and constituencies the decision will be implemented after the polls)", the Union Minister wrote on social media handle.

Union Minister said, "On this sacred Dhanteras, a big gift the oil companies are giving to the petrol pump dealers heartily welcome!"

"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 said that consumers will get better services but there will be no hike in the prices of petrol and diesel.

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

"For example, at Kunanpally and Kalimela in Malkangiri Odisha, Petrol Price will be decreased by Rs 4.69 and Rs 4.55; and Diesel price will be reduced by Rs 4.45 and Rs 4.32 respectively".

Similarly, price at Sukma of Chhattisgarh will also be reduced at Rs 2.09 in the Petrol Price and Rs 2.02 in diesel price said, Union Minister.

He added that the dealer commission hike will benefit services to about 7 crore citizens "who visit our fuel retail outlets in the country everyday, without increasing fuel prices".

This Union Minister said "The fulfillment of this long-pending demand over the last 7 years shall be joyful and sweet to the lives of Petrol Pump Dealers as well as nearly 10 lakh employees working on over 83,000 petrol pumps across India".

"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.

Indian Oil Corp Ltd posted earlier on social media platform: "After putting an end to a pending litigation, IndianOil announces a dealer margin revision with effect from 30th October 2024, which will have no extra burden on the Retail Selling Price of products. This move will further consolidate our resolve to enhance customer service standards and the welfare of the staff working in retail outlets.

Further, vindicating the core value of Nation First, our effort towards providing affordable petrol and diesel across the length and breadth of the 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.