No sensible person would consider it: Oil Minister on closing petrol pumps early

New Delhi: Oil Minister Veerappa Moily today discarded an earlier statement that a proposal to close petrol pumps at 8 pm is under consideration. "Would any sensible person consider this?" he said to media channel

On Sunday evening, the minister had said that the early closing of petrol pumps is among an omnibus of austerity measures being studied as the government grapples with a jarring fall in the value of the rupee.

"Is it a proposal of mine? It is floated around by the public... by the people," he said, hours after sources in the Prime Minister's Office made it clear that the suggestion was a no-go.

The BJP was withering in its reaction earlier today. Party spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said, "Let alone a petrol pump, this government plans to shut down the country."

The minister said that he will not share any other ideas about a fuel conservation drive that he plans to announce on September 16 for fear of them being "misinterpreted." He said his goal is to reduce oil imports by 25 billion dollars or Rs.165,000 crore.

The rupee has plunged almost 20 percent since May, partly on concerns about the world's third-largest current account deficit, prompting government steps such as a ban on the free import of flat screen TVs and curbs on buying hard currency

Mr Moily has pointed out in a letter to the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that unless corrective steps are taken, the government will face losses of Rs. 1.8 lakh crore on subsidized fuel. 

Every time, the value of rupee to a dollar falls by a rupee, the import bill goes up by 7, 900 crore. For every litre of diesel that's sold, oil companies take a hit of Rs. 10. For kerosene, they lose a whopping Rs.s. 33 per litre.

The main proposal in Mr Moily's plan, as listed in his note to the Prime Minister, is to import more oil from Iran, which accepts payment for its crude in rupees to avoid financial sanctions imposed by the United States.

India has sharply cut oil imports from Iran since US sanctions were imposed last year, and believes it has some headroom to import more without angering Washington.

The minister told that any oil transactions with Iran would be handled "within the framework" of those sanctions.

Source: NDTV.com