Doorstep fuel delivery is increasingly getting popular in the country. Humsafar India is the latest entrant into this business and aims to cover 50 cities by the end of FY 2022. State-owned oil companies, namely, IndianOil and Bharat Petroleum, have introduced the ‘Fuelent’ initiative. This enables startups like Humsafar to provide doorstep fuel delivery to the customers.
Doorstep fuel delivery is a cost-effective and convenient distribution network for end consumers. Humsafar taking the first-mover advantage in this segment will aim to expand its business to more cities. This fuel delivery network will hugely benefit the agricultural sector, hospitals, housing societies, heavy machinery facilities and mobile towers operators.
Humsafar India deals with only diesel, and it makes use of bowsers and jerry cans for fuel transportation. Currently, they have 3000-litre and 6000-litre capacity diesel dispensing vehicles, aka bowsers, to facilitate the delivery process. Earlier, consumers had to face a host of difficulties for fuel procurement. The use of barrels caused a lot of spillages and dead mileage in the procurement process.
But now, this doorstep fuel delivery network ensures safe and hassle-free diesel delivery to bulk consumers. Humsafar is currently charging the same price for diesel delivered by a bowser as with the retail fuel station. But for the jerry can service, there’s a logistic charge involved. The company also mentioned that there’s a strong demand for the delivery of small quantities of fuel.
Currently, this business is open for diesel and CNG. And they plan to add petrol delivery service in the next 2 to 5 years. They have their services in the NCR region, including Delhi and Haryana, Punjab, and parts of Rajasthan. With a current fleet size of 300 bowsers, they have made approximately 300 partners across the state. And of these, 92 partners are actively using this service. With the growing demand for EVs in the future, the company has already started exploring the opportunities. If things go well, Humsafar might enter the EV charging/battery space soon.