Reliance Industries Ltd has sought access to pipelines and storages that public sector oil companies have built over the years for supplying jet fuel (ATF) from depots and oil refineries to airports, as it looks for a larger pie of the fuel trade at some of Asia’s busiest airports.

Reliance, which produces a fourth of India’s aviation turbine fuel (ATF), wants access to storage depots outside the Delhi airport as well as to pipelines leading to Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad airports. It currently supplies small volumes of ATF compared with supplies made by state-owned firms.

The firm made the suggestion in its comments to oil regulator PNGRB’s draft regulation calling for the supply of ATF in all existing and future airports through pipelines that can be accessed by any supplier to bring in competition and cut fuel costs.

While the fuel market is open, aeroplanes at the country’s busiest airports are fed by pipelines that were built by state-owned IOC, BPCL and HPCL over decades.

Reliance, which has been for more than a decade now seeking access to pipelines that supply ATF to airports, especially in Mumbai, stated that “the common carrier pipeline scope (which gives third parties access to pipelines built by PSUs) should encompass the associated storage facilities and pumping stations at the ‘off-site’ oil terminal facilities as they form an integral part of the ATF supply chain”.