Last Wednesday’s initiative by Oil Ministry to save fuel has helped conserve petroleum products worth Rs 2 crore, according to Union Petroleum Minister M. Veerapa Moily.

He said this on the sidelines of a programme to launch the ‘save fuel’ campaign at a petrol bunk here on Monday.

Moily said his ministry and public sector oil companies saved around Rs 2 crore in their drive to save fuel last Wednesday.

He said he had used Delhi Metro to work on that day, and officials in the ministry also used the public transport system. In fact, the Chairman of one of the public sector oil companies walked to office from home and back, the Minister said.

Moily has written to other ministries and Chief Ministers of all States requesting them to take up such a drive. They have been asked to observe ‘bus day’ once a week. They have also been requested to plan staggered timings for their offices, he said.

Referring to the various measures initiated by the government, Moily said that urban local bodies should encourage citizens to use bicycles. The Minister assured the meeting that the oil companies would extend financial assistance to urban local bodies if they took steps to encourage the use of bicycles in their limits.

After three months, a third-party appraisal would be taken up on the recently launched ‘save fuel’ initiatives. Further measures will be initiated based on the feedback of the appraisal, he said.

Moily said that his intention is to bring down the import of oil by 50 per cent by 2020, and 75 per cent by 2025. The country should be energy independent by 2030, he added.

vinayak.aj@thehindu.co.in

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