Oil retailers pick 26 PACS to set up retail petrol, diesel outlets: Union Minister Amit Shah

Oil marketing companies have selected 26 Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) out of 286 applications for setting up retail petrol and diesel outlets, Cooperation Minister Amit Shah told Parliament on Tuesday.

In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Shah said the government has allowed PACS to operate retail petrol and diesel outlets and LPG distributorship.

As informed by Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs), 286 PACS from 25 states and Union Territories have submitted online applications to establish retail petrol/diesel outlets, of which 26 PACS have been selected by OMCs, he said.

Under conversion of PACS, Wholesale Consumer Pumps into retail outlets, OMC reports indicate that 116 PACS from five states have agreed to this conversion, and 56 PACS have been commissioned. For LPG distributorship, two PACS have applied for the two advertised locations in Jharkhand.

As per the revised guidelines, PACS have been included under Combined Category 2 (CC-2) for retail petrol/ diesel dealership and Combined Category (CC) for LPG distributorship, for which they can apply online as per the advertisements issued by OMCs.

Further, PACS are also been given one-time option to convert their wholesale consumer pumps into retail outlets for which the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has released detailed guidelines.

The eligibility criteria have also been defined in the guidelines which inter alia, include submission of documents related to registration, land availability, finance, etc, by the applicant PACS for retail petrol/ diesel outlets and LPG distributorship.