Hyderabad, Apr 28 (PTI) Amid long queues witnessed at some petrol bunks here, the Telangana Civil Supplies department on Tuesday assured that copious fuel stocks are available in the state.
To ensure citizens have uninterrupted access to fuel, the department said it has aggressively increased statewide petroleum supplies by 126 per cent since Sunday.
This quick and decisive action was taken to stabilise local fuel stations that are currently facing strain from a sudden and unusually high demand, an official release said.
The unexpected rush at local fuel pumps is being driven by a combination of three major factors, sources said.
First, following a recent price revision that raised the price of industrial diesel to Rs 150 per litre, bulk commercial buyers are exploiting the system by filling up at regular public gas stations, where the price is still capped at Rs 95 per litre.
Second, supply issues in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra have caused heavy cross-border traffic, with out-of-state buyers flocking to Telangana border districts like Khammam and Nirmal just to purchase fuel, it claimed.
Finally, fears that post-election price hikes have prompted the public to buy in excess, rapidly depleting local reserves.
In response to this crisis, Civil Supplies Commissioner M Stephen Raveendr has issued emergency orders to Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) to effectively “flood the market with fuel”.
OMCs are taking advance indents from dealers and have deployed a massive fleet of 3,100 fuel tankers across the state.
To ensure these stocks reach the pumps before they run dry, the department has escalated its oversight, mandating ground-level stock reports from all retail outlets every three hours and also monitoring the situation daily through teleconferences, it said.
The department has also issued strict directives to guarantee that farmers will have uninterrupted access to fuel, ensuring that crucial harvesting and paddy procurement operations are not delayed.
As of Monday, daily statewide diesel distribution has skyrocketed by 151 per cent, surging from an average of 7,348 kilolitres (KL) to 18,449 kilolitres.
The statewide petrol distribution has also nearly doubled, rising by 95 per cent from 5,883 kilolitres to 11,490 kilolitres, Raveendra said.
The government is monitoring the supply situation with field-level officials and fuel companies, he said.
He appealed to the consumers not to have misconceptions about petrol and diesel availability, and not to stock the fuel.
The release said total fuel supplies in Hyderabad have been heavily reinforced with an overall boost of 43 per cent. Specifically, the city’s diesel stocks were increased from 3,393 KLs to 4,957 KLs, and petrol stocks increased from 3,908 KLs to 5,466 KLs.
The Civil Supplies Department assured the public that there was absolutely no shortage of fuel in Telangana.
Citizens were strongly urged to ignore unfounded rumours and purchase fuel only as they normally would, as stations will continue to be fully stocked to meet all public and agricultural needs.
Amid rumours of fuel shortage, long queues were seen at some petrol bunks in the city, with consumers complaining that they had to wait for a long time to get the fuel for their vehicles. PTI SJR VVK SJR ADB
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