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Crisil Research estimates that by 2035 India will need 180,000 pumps, with a large proportion coming up in rural and semi-urban areas wherein the economics do not support the addition. There is the additional complexity around land acquisition, high real estate prices and high density leading to less availability of real estate for petrol pumps, primarily in the urban areas. These pumps require significant investment to open, making it look like a herculean scheme.
Diesel fuel is required to maintain the operation of generator sets in housing developments, hospitals, shopping centres, hotels, and companies with heavy machinery. These resources cannot reach the fuel station for refilling once exhausted. In such cases, most businesses use manual procurement in barrels from retail fuel stations which is extremely dangerous and vulnerable to adulteration and theft. Without companies having to do anything, a doorstep fuel delivery service can deliver diesel at the consumer’s site and drastically reduce their losses and also save carbon emissions.
The need for Mobile Petrol Pumps
Diesel is an essential commodity for numerous businesses and industries. But due to the gap between the supply and demand of fuel owing to structural drawbacks in the distribution system, businesses find it difficult to procure diesel in bulk quantities. Bulk consumers also incur big losses in the form of spillages, dead mileages and pilferages in traditional form of fuel procurement. That is why in future, the trend will automatically lead to the fuel delivery model as more people will opt for fuel coming to them rather than dispatching employees with barrels to the petrol pumps to procure fuel in cans. The whole model will gravitate towards those who will provide fuel to the end customer efficiently and conveniently. So technology enabled mobile petrol pumps will not only help bulk consumers save big on their fuel bills but also enable them to use tech to track and monitor fuel management.
Government initiatives in creating a Fuel Delivery ecosystem
In 2017, The Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry started considering the idea of legalisation of home delivery of High-Speed Diesel in the Oil Industry (HSD). This ideation led to the Indian government announcing a trial project for fuel delivery to consumers’; doorsteps in March 2018. The project participants were the government, start-ups, OMCs, and PESO.
After the grand success of the pilot projects, the Government of India did not just come up with policy changes to legalise doorstep diesel delivery but it also opened doors to aspiring fuel entrepreneurs( FuelEnts) who wanted to start their own ventures of providing this service. Oil marketing companies were now given themandate to collaborate with start-ups to drive a rapid transition in the energy distribution industry. Start-ups, while generating entry-level jobs, now could provide last-mile diesel delivery of fuel to all businesses that need diesel in bulk to operate.
Key benefits of a Doorstep Diesel delivery model
1) Zero Dead Mileage: Supplying enterprises with diesel at their doorsteps would eliminate the need for industrial vehicles to go to the fuel stations. It would save fuel by eliminating the dead mileage of vehicles.
2) No Theft: The technology used in the mobile petrol pumps makes the whole fuel delivery system foolproof and thus roots out possibilities of any theft of fuel.
3) Reducing Pollution: Obviating the dead mileage would save unnecessary fuel burning, reduce carbon emissions and protect the environment.
4) Reducing Fuel Wastage: Mobile fuelers can reduce the amount of wasted mileage incurred by simply reducing the number of trips that different vehicles must make to and from the fuelling station. Professional and standard practices can help minimise spillage losses and adulteration.
5) Lessening Environmental Harm: The carbon footprint and resulting pollution may be decreased significantly by eliminating needless fossil fuel usage and losses.
6) Resource optimisation and the multiplier effect: Companies may reduce their fuel costs by 5–10%, which translates into significant savings for all industries. These savings enable businesses to utilise their resources better, capitalise on their competitive edge and pass those benefits to their customers. As a result, this may have a multiplier impact on some industries.
7) Use of technology: The latest technology like the Internet of Things ensures flawless delivery operations. Now consumers can be sure that there are no pilferages in the entire process. This model can readily support the quality and quantity challenges of the fuel industry.
Mobile Petrol isn’t the future — it is the present Growth in mobile fuel would continue to be driven by several factors, such as the global supply chain and fuel trade economics, structural limitations of the current distribution model, shifting consumer requirement patterns, and technological disruptions. The government is aggressively supporting the idea of Doorstep Diesel Delivery (DDD), there are approximately 3000 mobile petrol pumps that are providing doorstep diesel delivery service and more than 1000 fuel startups that have entered this space. These numbers are increasing with each passing day as bulk consumers are now finding the benefits of such a service.
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Views expressed above are the author's own.
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