228 PACS applied for retail petrol/diesel dealership so far: Shah

New Delhi: Cooperation Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday said in the Rajya Sabha that around 228 Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) have so far applied for retail petrol/diesel dealership.

Shah, in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, said the government has allowed PACS to operate retail petrol/diesel outlets and LPG distributorships.

In this regard, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has issued revised guidelines for selection of dealers for regular and rural retail outlets, as well as unified guidelines for selection of LPG distributorship, he said.

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 Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs).

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

"As informed by OMCs, 228 PACS from 24 states and Union Territories have applied online so far for locations advertised by Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) for retail petrol/diesel dealership," Shah said.

Further, 109 PACS from five states having wholesale consumer pumps have given consent for conversion into retail outlets, out of which 43 PACS have received Letter of Intent (LOI) from the OMCs, he said.

For LPG distributorship, two PACS have applied for the two locations advertised in Jharkhand, he added.