<p>The India arm of global energy giant Shell wants to sell some of its 80 petrol pumps.<br />"They (Shell) have approached us. We are looking at it," IOC Chairman B M Bansal told reporters here. "We haven't yet decided (on making a bid). It will depend on the locations they are offering."IOC would not like to bid for outlets in locations where the company already has a presence, he said.<br /><br />A BPCL official said the company too is looking at the offer from Shell but HPCL said it had declined the offer a few months back.Industry sources said Shell outlets on offer are mostly in prime locations in big cities like Bengaluru, with cost of land alone over Rs 4 crore each. Along with infrastructure, each outlet may cost more than Rs 6 crore.<br /><br />Shell, the only foreign fuel retailer in India, is looking at selling some of its 80 petrol pumps in the country even though it continues to build new ones to cover more regions.<br />BPCL official said Shell is offering 20-30 outlets but an IOC executive said as many as half of its petrol pumps may be on offer.<br /><br />Reliance Industries and Essar Oil, the nation's only private refiners, may also be interested in Shell's petrol pumps.<br /><br />Both the firms are looking at expanding their retail network after the government announced decontrol of petrol price and a marginal increase in diesel price.RIL and Essar have not been able to compete with the state retailers, who got government subsidy for selling petrol and diesel at price below cost.<br /><br />Essar, which currently operates 1,342 outlets will open at least 400 more by March 2011. Of the 1,432 petrol pumps of RIL only just over 600 are currently operational. RIL had shut its outlets in 2008 as it could not compete with state retailers.</p>
<p>The India arm of global energy giant Shell wants to sell some of its 80 petrol pumps.<br />"They (Shell) have approached us. We are looking at it," IOC Chairman B M Bansal told reporters here. "We haven't yet decided (on making a bid). It will depend on the locations they are offering."IOC would not like to bid for outlets in locations where the company already has a presence, he said.<br /><br />A BPCL official said the company too is looking at the offer from Shell but HPCL said it had declined the offer a few months back.Industry sources said Shell outlets on offer are mostly in prime locations in big cities like Bengaluru, with cost of land alone over Rs 4 crore each. Along with infrastructure, each outlet may cost more than Rs 6 crore.<br /><br />Shell, the only foreign fuel retailer in India, is looking at selling some of its 80 petrol pumps in the country even though it continues to build new ones to cover more regions.<br />BPCL official said Shell is offering 20-30 outlets but an IOC executive said as many as half of its petrol pumps may be on offer.<br /><br />Reliance Industries and Essar Oil, the nation's only private refiners, may also be interested in Shell's petrol pumps.<br /><br />Both the firms are looking at expanding their retail network after the government announced decontrol of petrol price and a marginal increase in diesel price.RIL and Essar have not been able to compete with the state retailers, who got government subsidy for selling petrol and diesel at price below cost.<br /><br />Essar, which currently operates 1,342 outlets will open at least 400 more by March 2011. Of the 1,432 petrol pumps of RIL only just over 600 are currently operational. RIL had shut its outlets in 2008 as it could not compete with state retailers.</p>