Govt considering proposal to shut petrol pumps at night

02 Sep 2013 Evaluate

In order to check the rising fuel demand and to cut the massive oil import bill, the government is considering various proposals including shutting petrol pumps in the night. Further, the oil ministry also plans to launch a massive fuel conservation drive from September 16 to cut fuel demand by 3 per cent and save an estimated Rs 16,000 crore in forex outgo.

Moreover, the oil ministry has worked out a plan to renew imports from sanctions-hit Iran, where India pays in rupees and will save $22 billion in the oil import bill. As per the current scenario, imports of 10 million tonnes oil from Iran can save $10 billion in foreign exchange outgo. In the last fiscal, India imported 13.1 million tonnes of oil from Iran, which was 18.11 million tonnes in 2011-12.

In India, around 80 percent of the total crude oil demand is met through imports, which has become one of the components responsible for high CAD. India's CAD rose to record high of $88.2 billion or 4.8 percent of the GDP in the previous fiscal. Further, high CAD is also impacting the value of rupee which recently slipped to an all time low of 68.75 to a dollar.

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