Govt slashes licence fee for women entrepreneurs, MSMEs in petroleum & explosives ventures

New Delhi: Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal, has announced 80 per cent concession for women entrepreneurs and 50 per cent for MSMEs in fees for licences granted by the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO), according to an official statement issued on Thursday.

Accordingly, the Minister has directed PESO to formulate guidelines in consultation with the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG) for creating a template of safety measures allowing retail outlets of petrol pumps to function in cases where there is habitation within 30-50 metres.

Piyush Goyal also said that QR code for cylinders is incorporated in the draft Gas Cylinders Rules and a final notification will be out soon.

He added that a committee will be formed to study if a licence for explosives, transport and manufacturing can be given for 10 years. A committee will also examine the issue regarding increasing the validity of licence to 10 years as all licences except for explosives are given for 10 years.

To further streamline processes, the Minister said efforts must be made to involve third-party inspection agencies in more areas, adding that online permission modules will be developed by PESO for a few areas which are yet offline.

Goyal also directed that the process for filling up vacancies in PESO must be expedited.

Petrol pump licences are issued in Form XIV of Petroleum Rules 2002 whereas licence for CNG dispensing facilities within petroleum retail outlets are issued in Form G of Gas Cylinders Rules.

As both the licences are under different Rules and Acts, amendments in the licence in Form XIV are also required to be made after the grant of licence for CNG facilities in the same petrol pump.

This amendment will be dispensed with by making required changes in the modules. This will reduce the compliance burden and the workload of PESO.

Minister Goyal chaired a stakeholder consultation on Thursday to get feedback from petroleum, explosives, fireworks and other related industry leaders, aimed at enhancing efficiency in the functioning of PESO.

Goyal said the compliance of the petroleum and explosives industry must be balanced with public safety.