The primary objective of any distribution arrangement, is to move products from source to the ultimate consumer, at the most economic cost. To this end, this book can be conceived as a means for optimal distribution of refinery products at the least total cost to the national economy. There is a great paucity of studies relating to applications of management science techniques for managing public enterprises. In this book apart from linear programming, other management science techniques like goal programming, transportation model and queueing theory have been artfully exploited, to provide an insight into some of the distribution problems of the refinery products in India. These models can be easily extended to include other essential products, thus providing a basis for an optimizing exercise for the Indian public sector as a whole. To enhance the understand-ing of the subject matter by readers belonging to different disciplines, ihe approach adopted in this book is conceptual rather than mathematical. This is a work of paramount use to students and researchers in management and energy and also to specialists and decision makers in the government, industry, planning agencies and international organizations.
