The Central government has announced an 80% concession for women entrepreneurs and 50% for MSMEs in fees for licences granted by the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO).

Announcing the decision, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal said the directions are given to 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.

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He said the QR code for cylinders is incorporated in the draft Gas Cylinders Rules (GCR) and final notification will be out soon.

The minister directed the formation of a committee to study if a licence for explosives, transport, and manufacturing can be given for ten years; a committee will examine the issue regarding increasing the validity of licence to 10 years as all licences except for explosives are given for ten years.

To further streamline processes, he called for efforts to be made to involve Third Party Inspection Agencies (TPIAs) in more areas.

He said online permission modules would be developed by PESO for a few areas that are yet offline. The minister directed that the process for filling up vacancies in PESO must be expedited.

During the deliberations, Piyush Goyal emphasised the simplification of processes and approvals in PESO and directed to the adoption of the best global practices for the regulation of petroleum and explosives.

PESO officers were asked to strictly adhere to the timelines for clearing applications. It was also decided to issue FAQs for different approvals and licences. The Minister directed that NOC by District Authorities should be issued through Licensing System for District Authority (LSDA) online system.

In response to the suggestions given and issues raised by the industry during the consultation, the Minister directed MoPNG and the concerned industry associations to form committees to carve out details of suggestions made by them.

These committees were tasked to study and recommend best practices and standards. He suggested these industry committees review and propose amendments to regulatory rules and frameworks to expedite and streamline processes.

He also directed the DPIIT to form a committee consisting of industry representatives, PESO officers, DPIIT officers, CPCB, MoPNG, and Oil companies to work in a time-bound manner on suggested reforms.