Petroplus International NV, a European oil company, is eyeing the retail petroleum sector in India with its unmanned filling stations popularly known as 'Tango'.

Petroplus has initiated talks with the domestic oil majors to offer its Tango technology for the recently deregulated Indian petroleum sector.

The euro 5.5 billion Dutch company has also sourced key people from the Indian oil market and has recently hired D D Sen, senior vice-president (supply and trading), Reliance Industries Ltd, to head its crude oil sourcing out of Dubai as well as to set up its Indian operations.

The company is a new entrant in this part of the world having started its operations in the Middle East (supply and trading office) in October 2002.

Petroplus is the first company to have rolled out a network of unmanned filling stations through Tango CV in Netherlands in 2000 and in Belgium since October 2002 under its subsidiary Tango CV, in which it holds a 75 per cent stake.

Already 50 unmanned filling stations are operational in the Netherlands and is planning to set up 20 such stations in Belgium during the current year.

"We intend to offer the Tango formula to the Indian oil companies. The unmanned stations will help lower cost for the domestic oil companies especially for company-owned retail outlets," a senior company official who was in India recently said.

Tango is based on the "tank and go" principle where the petrol pumps are not manned and fuel can be bought through credit cards or Tango cards.

Although the Indian government has deregulated the petroleum sector beginning April 1, 2002, the oil companies have not been given complete pricing freedom.

"Once the Indian oil companies price their fuels in tandem with the international prices, we expect price competition," say industry analysts.

High degree of automation and low operating cost has resulted in substantial cost savings which are being passed on to the customers.

Each unmanned petrol pump in the Netherlands has been set up at half the cost of the conventional petrol pump.

In fact, when Tango launched its first unmanned petrol stations in the Netherlands in March 2000, it offered an inaugural discount of 11 euro cents on petrol and diesel where the buyer saved euro 5.50 on a 50 litre tank, a substantial amount on bulk purchase.

After the initial offer, the company continued to offer a discount of 7 euro cents per litre. Having control over a substantial market in the Netherlands, Tango is being rolled out in other countries such as Spain and Belgium.