Essar Oil on Tuesday said it will set up 50 petrol stations before the end of this fiscal.

"We will commission six to seven petrol pumps this month and will take up the strength to 50 by March 31," Essar Oil president (retail) Raman Pandya told reporters on the sidelines of an oil and gas conference in New Delhi.

Essar has tied up with Mangalore Refineries and Petrochemicals Ltd for sourcing fuel for its retail petrol stations.

"Our three retail outlets at Ratnagiri, Jamnagar and Ulhasnagar are currently running on imported fuel. In future, we plan to source petrol and diesel from MRPL, going by the logistics, he said.

The company, which has secured licence to set up 17,000 petrol stations in the country, is selling around 300 kilo litres of fuel from its existing pumps.

Essar's monthly sales is more than Indian Oil Corporation average of 155 to 160 kilo litres per month and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd's 204 kilo litres every month.

Pandya said the company will set up 2000 petrol stations in the country by the end of 2005.