The petroleum ministry is planning to do away with 24-hour petrol pumps in cities as part of its "austerity measures" in view of the falling rupee and rising international crude oil prices. By regulating the timing for sale of petroleum products, the ministry hopes to contain fuel demand and check the outflow of foreign exchange on account of oil imports.

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"It (petrol pump timings) could be 8 am-8 pm or something like that. We are still working on it. It may not be implemented on the highways though. We have to try out these things. We are going through difficult times. We need to discipline ourselves. People will have to tighten their belt and some austerity measures have to be taken without affecting economic activity. Such measures are already in place in many other countries," said Petroleum & Natural Gas Minister M Veerappa Moily.

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The "austerity measures" are set to be announced shortly.

At present, the government has no role in deciding the timings of petrol pumps.

On September 16, the ministry is also planning to launch a six-week conservation campaign on saving fuel in major cities. The special drive, estimated to cost Rs 17.5 crore, would include mass media campaign, street plays, street intersection activities, drivers' training programmes and hoardings at retail outlets. According to Moily, the estimated savings through this campaign could be around Rs 16,000 crore.

Following instructions from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to save $25 billion in the current financial year from oil imports, Moily wrote to him on Friday suggesting some measures, including "demand containment" at previous year's level as against the estimated 4.1 per cent growth, increasing imports from sanction-hit Iran, Rs 17.5 crore conservation campaign, and 5 per cent blending of ethanol. These measures could result in savings of around $19-20 billion, Moily said in his letter.

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