With the falling rupee and rising oil import bills fuelling the current account deficit, the petroleum ministry is planning to do away with 24-hour petrol pumps in cities, the minister M. Veerappa Moily said here.

 

 

 "It (petrol pump timings) could be 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. or something like that. We are still working on it. It may not be implemented on the highways though. Such measures are already in place in many other countries," a leading daily Sunday reported Moily as saying. 

 

 "We need to discipline ourselves. People will have to tighten their belt and some austerity measures have to be taken without affecting economic activity," Moily added.

 

 Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has asked the petroleum ministry to save $25 billion on imports and the ministry hopes to contain fuel demand through such an austerity measure. 

 

 The petroleum minister had on Tuesday said the oil ministry has worked out a plan to save $22 billion in the oil import bill.

 

 

IANS