Essar, RIL capture 3% of India's fuel market

A year after India decided to stop regulating diesel prices, private operators Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) and Essar Oil Ltd have managed to capture 3% of country's fuel retailing market.

Subsidized diesel prices made it almost impossible for private retailers to compete against state-owned operators, according to online newspaper Live Mint.

The drop in fuel prices due to the collapsed oil market has seen diesel become 18% cheaper, increasing the demand and benefiting private retailers.

RIL and Essar Oil currently operate 1,400 and 1,700 gas stations, respectively, which are similar figures to that of 2003-04, before the government implemented the heavy subsidies which shrank their businesses.

Essar Oil´s chairman Prashant Ruia said India´s second largest private oil firm plans to more than triple its network of gas stations to 5,000 by the end of 2016, said the company’s