BPCL to focus on consolidating outlets

Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (BPCL) is going slow on opening retail petroleum outlets, to focus on consolidating its existing retail outlets, adding new products and services like digital film theaters, food courts, rest rooms and shopping opportunities for customers. BPCL accounted for only 480 of the 2,900 new retail outlets public sector oil companies opened last year. This strategy, which was experimented last year, has paid off, and in the highway sector the throughput per outlet grew from 179 kilolitres a month in 2005-06 to 196 kilolitres a month in 2006-07. BPCL also has automated 320 of its 7,800 outlets through the Bharat Retail Automation Solutions and Services-Real Time (BRASS-RT) program, which will be extended to 2,000 outlets this year. (September 21, 2007)