The government’s intention of curtailing costly oil imports is unexceptionable. But it seems to be harbouring the oddest of ideas for doing so. One of them is the proposal of closing petrol pumps at night. The mounting crisis in Syria has intensified India’s worries about oil imports and the money involved. No doubt oil consumption has to be reduced. What is surprising is that the government shows no interest in curtailing its own consumption of petrol. The government departments guzzle oil heedlessly. Central Ministers and bureaucrats in Delhi together consume around Rs.5000 crore worth of fuel every year. Uttar Pradesh has no caps on fuel consumption by those known as special category legislators. Altogether, adding up the Centre, states and union territories, the fuel bill runs up to rupees tens of thousands of crore every year. No doubt, the government all over the country is the highest consumer of oil. Economy in that area will result in huge savings apart from setting an example to private entities. It may be noted that, subsidized sales has doubled the demand for petrol and tripled the demand for diesel in recent years.
Furthermore, the oil import bill has multiplied ten times because of inefficient use of oil. Oil consumption per unit of GDP in India is more than three times that of Japan, the US and OECD countries. This is the third more than that of China and Indonesia. Waste is the main problem. Efficient consumption of oil can cut down the oil import bill by at least a third. That will also control the Current Account Deficit. Private consumers can then look up to the government to show them a way out of the deepening crisis.