India is considering closing fuel pumps at night as one of a number of “austerity measures” aimed at cutting its ballooning oil import bills, the oil minister said. Oil Minister Veerappa Moily said on Monday that details have not yet been finalised on the new measures expected to be introduced later this month. “We have not worked out the details, how the austerity measures or the conservation mission will have to be launched,” Moily told NDTV news channel. But the minister said late Sunday that “shutting petrol pumps during (the) night is one of” the measures under discussion, according to the Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency. “We have not decided. It is just a proposal,” Moily told PTI, adding that his ministry would launch austerity measures on September 16. India imports around 80 percent of its oil needs and the import bill has risen dramatically because of high global prices and a plunging rupee. The oil ministry wants to cut fuel demand by three percent and save about $2.43 billion in foreign exchange outflows. News of the proposed measures emerged as the country’s biggest refiner, Indian Oil Corporation, increased petrol prices by more than 3.5 percent, blaming the falling rupee for the hike.
