IOC completes first phase of automation program

State-owned Indian Oil Corp. (IOC) completed the first phase of its automation of all petrol stations in India. “That is progressing very fast. We have already covered 2,000 petrol pumps [under this program],” said R. S. Butola , IOC chairman and managing director. Butola said that after all of the 4,500 pumps with average sales volume of 200 kiloliters per month have been automated, they will begin automation of petrol pumps with average sales of 100 kiloliters every month. IOC owns some 19,000 oil retail outlets across the country and the company spends around Rs15 lakh (US$29,010) to automate one pump. The automation program is aimed at preventing tampering of petrol pumps. (March 25, 2012)