NEW DELHI: Reliance Industries Ltd has sought access to pipelines and storages that public sector oil companies have built over the years for supplying jet fuel (ATF) from depots and oil refineries to airports, as it looks for a larger pie of fuel trade at some of Asia’s busiest airports.
Reliance, which produces a fourth of India’s aviation turbine fuel (ATF), wants access to storage depots outside the Delhi airport as well as to pipelines leading to Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad airports. It currently supplies small volumes of ATF when compared with supplies made by state-owned firms.
The firm made the suggestion in its comments to oil regulator PNGRB’s draft regulation calling for supply of ATF in all existing and future airports through pipelines that can be accessed by any supplier so as to bring in competition and cut fuel cost.
While the fuel market is open, airplanes at the country’s busiest airports are fed by pipelines that were built by state-owned Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) over decades.
Reliance, which has been for more than a decade now seeking access to pipelines that supply ATF to airports especially at Mumbai, stated that “the common carrier pipeline scope (which gives third parties access to pipelines built by PSUs) should encompass the associated storage facilities and pumping stations at the ‘off-site’ oil terminal facilities as they form an integral part of the ATF supply chain.”.
“This will promote a competitive market for supply and distribution of ATF to the airport ‘on-site’ storage facilities,” it said.
Out of the 17.12 million tonnes of aviation turbine fuel (ATF) produced by public and private sector refineries, 8.2 million tonnes is consumed within the country and the rest is exported. Reliance’s twin refineries at Jamnagar produce close to 5 million tonnes of ATF, a large part of it is exported.
ATF demand in India is growing in double digits as more people fly. It rose by 11.8 per cent in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2024.
PTI