Essar Oil to get into ATF retail

Essar Oil, the oil refining and marketing company of the Essar group, is all set to start retail sales of aviation turbine fuel (ATF) in the next six to nine months. S. Thangapandian, chief executive officer – marketing, said the company will set up refuelling stations in Gujarat and Rajasthan in India. It is also planning to set up an ATF dispensing station in Jamnagar by January 2010. “We will spend Rs45-50 lakh  (US$96,711-107,457) on each bowser that will be used in these airports, and including the rental charges of the airports and locations we will spend close to Rs1.5-2 crore (US$322,372-429,830) on each site,” Thangapandian said. Thangapandian said that Essar Oil’s business model would be based on the “cash-and-carry” model and the company’s focus would be on the private aviation industry and corporate accounts. (November 25, 2009)