Does the ministry really plan to relinquish control?
Some people are spreading this misinformation. Post April 1, 2002, pricing is left to the oil PSUs who are free to take a call and we have advised them to work independently. But as they are all government companies, we have to ensure that they don’t indulge in profiteering. So we are striking a balance. There is freedom amidst some minimal checks. Why can’t individual petrol pumps offer competitive (and different) prices when it comes to base products like petrol and diesel? Full deregulation will take time. Until a private player enters the market (read retail marketing) pricing will be bunched. Moreover, the hospitality arrangements among the PSUs are age old. In the north for example, there are IOC, BPCL and BPCL pumps, but supply to all them goes from IOC’s Mathura refinery. Throughout the country, supply has been interlinked for all the oil PSUs. Today the competition is in the services front. When private players move in, pricing will drive the war. When will the issues related
