Petrol, diesel crisis: Is India going the Sri Lankan way? As Petrol pumps go dry in several states, Indian oil says THIS

New Delhi: A petrol and diesel crisis seem to be hitting the fuel pumps hard in several states of India, though no official estimates have confirmed the same. Petrol pumps in many states including Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Gujarat, and Madhya Pradesh have seen serpentine queues in the last couple of days with vehicle owners thronging to fuel stations for a refill of their tanks.

According to petroleum dealers, Oil Marketing Companies like BPCL and HPCL have restricted the fuel supply and are providing only a quarter of the oil of the total demand which is triggering the fuel crisis. On one hand, while the current crisis seems to be an upshot of rumors of oil shortage, there has still been no word from the government.

Meanwhile, quelling the ongoing rumours on fuel crisis, V Satish Kumar, Director (Marketing) of Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), tweeted, “This is to assure that product availability at our retail outlets is absolutely normal. There is adequate product availability &  supplies to all markets. We request you not to panic.”

Dear Customers,This is to assure that product availability at our retail outlets is absolutely normal. There is adequate product availability & supplies to all markets. We request you not to panic. #IndianOil is fully committed to serve at all times. @HardeepSPuri @ChairmanIOCL pic.twitter.com/rndgCLqqn3 — Director (Marketing), IndianOil (@DirMktg_iocl) June 14, 2022

Around 2,000 petrol pumps across Rajasthan, including 100 in Jaipur, have gone dry.  Rajasthan Petrol Dealers Association President Sunit Bagai said that the first major reason for this shortage is the closure of petrol pumps of Reliance and Essar for almost two weeks. The market share of both these companies in Rajasthan is about 15 per cent and now when their pumps are closed, their burden has come on the petrol pumps of other companies.

The second reason is that the supply is being reduced by BPCL and HPCL. According to Bagai, only Indian Oil Company is giving the entire supply.

Andhra Pradesh seems too seem to be facing a serious shortage of diesel and petrol as OMCs like BPCL and HPCL are imposing ration in fuel supply .