NEW DELHI, Dec. 10 (UPI) -- Retail gasoline station executives in India demanded the government loosen its control over diesel fuel, which makes up a major percentage of their business.
"Unless diesel is completely deregulated we will not go for major expansion in our retail outlets," said Lalit Kumar Gupta, chief executive officer of Essar Oil Ltd., Marketwatch reported Saturday.
In June, the government ended price control of motor grade gasoline, but it continued to regulate diesel prices. In addition, state-run gasoline stations are subsidized for offering low prices, a program not extended to private retail firms.
The program is intended to head off inflation, which has hovered above 9 percent on an annual basis for the past 11 months.
"The world has to be the same for everyone," said Reliance Industries Ltd. executive P. Raghvendran.
Raghvendran said the company was operating 600 of 1,400 retail outlets it controls.
Essar Oil has 1,300 fuel outlets with diesel fuel making up 40 percent of its sales. Motor grade gasoline makes up only 10 percent of its sales, Marketwatch said.
