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Informist, Wednesday, Jun. 17, 2026

 

By Shakshi Jain

 

NEW DELHI – A letter from the Digital Infrastructure Providers Association seeking exemption from restriction on bulk diesel procurement from retail fuel outlets submitted to the Department of Communications Tuesday is expected to be presented to the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas soon, a source in knowledge of the developments told Informist on condition of anonymity. This marks a significant progress in the telecom industry body's attempts to get relief from new challenges to source diesel in bulk quantities.
 

The association's letter sought an exemption from the government for tower companies, service providers, and their authorised logistics partners under clause 4 of Thursday's order by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, which capped high-speed diesel sales per vehicle or customer to 200 litres a day. "A letter was submitted to the Department of Communications. Following reveiew by the secretary, it is expected to be presented to the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas," as per the source.

 

In a bid to curb black marketing and hoarding, the government, last week notified the Motor Spirit and High-Speed Diesel (Temporary Regulation of Supply through Retail Outlets) Order, 2026, which instructed oil marketing companies to ensure retail outlets dispense diesel only into vehicle tanks or containers approved by the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation, with a limit of 200 litres per customer or vehicle in a day. It further said industrial, commercial, and institutional customers would not be allowed to buy petrol or diesel from retail outlets. They must source their requirements from their dedicated consumer pumps or designated bulk sale points set up by the oil marketing companies. 

 

Prices for bulk procurement of diesel are higher by INR 40-INR 50 per litre, an analyst tracking the oil and gas sector at a large domestic brokerage firm said. Companies requiring bulk volumes of diesel typically establish long-term supply agreements directly with oil marketing companies, wherein prices are market-linked, while retail pump prices are often moderated to protect the common public from global shocks. 

 

The industrial and commercial consumers were circumventing government rules by buying diesel from retail outlets. But with strict control over how much a retail outlet can sell to a customer per day, the industrial and other non-transport bulk consumers are unable to manage their costs like they did earlier, as per a sector analyst.

 

The restrictions, that are covered under clause 3 of the Jun. 11 government order, have made it operationally unviable for telecom companies due to the dispersed nature of towers and the requirement for decentralised last-mile delivery, the Digital Infrastructure Providers Association reasoned in the letter submitted to the Department of Telecommunications Tuesday. In parts of the letter reviewed by Informist, the industry body argued that robust existing controls, including petro-card procurement, authorised logistics partners, and structured distribution systems, already ensure full accountability and traceability. 

 

The restrictions, which will be in place for up to 90 days, follow abnormal demand growth in select outlets after industrial and commercial users started buying fuel from retail outlets due to the pricing difference between bulk and retail diesel prices, a government release said. As per the government, the new regulatory measures are specifically designed to protect retail consumers from inconveniences caused by intermittent supply issues at retail fuel outlets.

However, as per clause 4 of the recent Order by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, the government may issue a special order to exempt any consumer, class of consumers, area, or transaction from the above restrictions. The telecom sector caters to over 850,000 geographically dispersed tower sites in India, of which 60-75% partially depend on diesel generator sets to ensure continued services across urban, semi-urban, and remote areas, the letter from Digital Infrastructure Providers Association said.

 

Telecom infrastructure, particularly mobile towers, depends significantly on diesel-operated generator sets to ensure uninterrupted services, especially in rural and remote areas, where grid power supply is unreliable.

 

The letter added that diesel was supplied in limited quantities to individual sites through an aggregated and controlled last-mile distribution system, wherein authorised logistics partners procure fuel from oil marketing companies through petro-card mechanisms and distribute approximately 1,000 litres per trip across multiple sites based on optimised routing. "...Diesel drawn per retail outlet in a day reaches up to 1,500 litres during peak time," the letter said.

 

This comes after companies in the sector last month requested support from the Department of Telecommunications to approach the Minsitry of Power regarding priority for power availability to the telecom industry and mobile towers nationwide.  End

 

IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT

 

Edited by Akul Nishant Akhoury

 

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