Private fuel retailers, Reliance Industries and Essar Oil are contemplating over reopening their petrol stations that were shut last year after the government of India failed to raise pump prices to match the surge in imported crude oil costs. As the margins on petrol and diesel have turned positive, the two private fuel retailers want to reactivate their petrol pumps.

Oil secretary RS Pandey informed that Reliance was keen to resume retail fuel sales at some of its closed petrol stations, while Essar revived 500 of its pumps. However, with the fall in international oil prices, state-run oil companies Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum are making a net profit of Rs 9.86 a litre on petrol and Rs 0.70 per litre on diesel.

Essar Oil, the second-largest private fuel retailer in the country, had begun reopening its petrol pumps when international crude oil prices started declining in September. Pandey said that Essar had written to him informing that 500 pumps have resumed operations. It plans to open most of its 1,250 fuel stations by the end of December.

The company began reactivating most of its outlets in southern and western India from August and would double its retail network by the end of December, taking it to 1,250 by January 2009.