PESO working on safety template to allow petrol pumps within 30-50 meters of habitation

Commerce & Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has directed the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO) to formulate guidelines to create a template of safety measures allowing retail outlets of petrol pumps to function in cases where there is habitation within 30-50 metres.

This is to be done in consultation with the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG), per an official release issued on Thursday.

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Goyal chaired a stakeholder consultation on Wednesday in New Delhi to solicit insights and feedback from Petroleum, Explosives, Fireworks and other related industry leaders, aimed at enhancing efficiency in the functioning of Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO).

Goyal announced 80 per cent concession for women entrepreneurs and 50 per cent for MSMEs in licensing fees for licenses granted by PESO, the statement pointed out. 

The Minister also said that QR code for cylinders is incorporated in the draft Gas Cylinders Rules (GCR) and final notification will be out soon. “He directed that a committee will be formed to study if a licence for explosives, transport and manufacturing can be given for ten years; a committee will examine the issue regarding increasing the validity of licence to 10 years as all licences except for explosives are given for a duration of ten years,” the statement noted.

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To further streamline processes, the Minister directed that efforts must be made to involve Third Party Inspection Agencies (TPIAs) in more areas. He said that online permission modules will be developed by PESO for few areas which are yet offline.