Portable petrol pumps are new to India and Alinz has received approval from the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas to manufacture them. Alinz told PTI reporters this week that it has tied up with Czech firm Petrocard to set up four manufacturing units in India to make machines for such pumps at an investment of Rs 1,600 crore. It received the approval from the ministry on 10 August.

With Petrocard as its technology partner, Alinz will set up four facilities to manufacture these machines in India based on the market, states and oil marketing companies response and cooperation.

What are portable petrol stations?

The portable petrol pumps are unmanned fuelling station where one can refuel their vehicle on their own and pay through digital means. These automatic self-service machines can be used to dispense petrol, diesel, and kerosene and payment for the fuel can be made using cashless modes including e-wallets.

Alinz's Managing Director Inderjeet Pruthi told reporters that the pumps will be a boon for people living in rural areas, mountains regions and remote locations.

How can you turn it into a business opportunity?

These fueling stations just require about 400 sq mts as against huge land requirement for normal gas stations. It is a good opportunity for those looking to start a business. Setting up of a new pump requires Rs 90 lakh to Rs 1.20 crore and according to the PTI report, the banks are ready to finance 80 percent of the project.

Alinz expects that the respective state governments along with oil marketing companies will float tenders for these fuel stations and who so ever bags the tender will be eligible to set up a portable petrol pump.

The machines manufactured by the company will then be allotted to those who have been chosen eligible for the tender by their state government. The machines come in different sizes. The smallest one has a capacity for 9,000 litres of oil and the largest one will be able to hold 30,000 litres.