Nagpur: District collector Vipin Itankar directed officials of oil companies to ensure maximum supply after members of the Federation of Maharashtra Petroleum Dealers Association (FAMPEDA), an outfit of petrol pump owners, pointed out that around 30 petrol pumps ran dry in the city on Wednesday. Members of the dealers guild, along with oil companies officials, met the collector to apprise him of the supply constraints due to limited timings and stopping of credit facilities. The Nagpur district administration also contacted its counterpart in Wardha with a request to ensure the Nayara Energy depot in the district remains operational beyond 2.30pm. The timing restriction by Nayara have slowed down the refilling of tankers sent by the petrol pumps, said the dealers. The facility is used by PSU oil companies in the city. Sources said Nayara has agreed to allow entries till evening and fill the tankers till late night. At BPCL’s Borkhedi pump, its strict insistence on payment before 2.30pm is affecting the refilling of pumps. It was learnt that the oil company officials have been asked to ease the payment terms and also allow credit, said sources.The collector said there is enough stock of petrol and diesel for the city; however, consumers who normally limit their purchases according to the needs have abnormally increased the buying now. “This has disrupted the supply chain, leading to some of the pumps going dry. Two-wheeler riders who would generally not buy more than Rs100 worth of fuel on an average bought petrol for as much as Rs600. Four-wheelers’ average purchases jumped to Rs2000 to Rs6000 as against Rs300 to Rs600,” said a note shared by the collector. Currently, there is 10,500 kilolitres of petrol (10.5 lakh litres) and 3,500 KL (35 lakh litres) of petrol supplies in the district, said the note. This was in reference to the Borkhedi depot in the district, said sources. Amit Gupta, president of FAMPEDA, also appealed for restraint from consumers. Viraj Lamba, a dealer at Indora Chowk, said panic buying continued on Wednesday. However, the operations could be managed smoothly with the support from the company.
