Adding over 78,000 petrol pumps is uneconomical, says Crisil

New Delhi: The government plan to more than double the number of petrol pumps in the country does not make economic sense as more number of outlets would only cut into each other’s sale, leading to some unprofitable, CrisilNSE 1.13 % Research said in a report Thursday.

The three public sector oil marketing firms – Indian Oil Corp (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan PetroleumNSE -0.24 % Corp Ltd (HPCL) – in November last year advertised to open 78,493 more petrol pumps in the country. This on top of 64,624 fuel retail outlets currently operating in the country.