Bharat gas pumps to bring online shopping to rural India

India’s state-owned Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd. (BPCL) is planning to tap its nationwide network of 12,800 gas stations as pick up points for orders made online, reported the Wall Street Journal.

About 30% of the retail outlets of the oil company are in rural India serving as a logistic network to sell to farmers and hundreds of millions of Indians who live outside the metropolis.

The company’s e-commerce venture is set to start in December, with BPCL’s rural gas and cooking gas distributors starting to accept orders and payments online and would start selling groceries from its urban outlets by early next year.

It already partnered with Amazon in 2014 but the company no longer wants to be just a logistic platform for e-commerce companies.

Amid falling oil prices, BPCL tries to find new sources of revenue and diversify its product offerings. It has popular food chains and around 200 convenience stores in its gas stations.

Though some experts are skeptical about the e-commerce venture, BPCL is planning to spend $1 billion over the next five years to boost its retail presence.

Similar business projects have been undertaken in the United Kingdom and Canada. UK’s Jet gas stations have pick-up lockers for Amazon deliveries while InPost Canada set up lockers at major retailers including gas stations for online retailer Newegg Canada.