Losses in fuel retailers' strike seen at Rs 12 crore per day

Petrol and diesel retail outlets have been losing around Rs 12 crore per day due to the three-day partial bandh which began on Wednesday.

All petrol and diesel retail outlets have been functioning only between 9 am and 5 pm from Wednesday.

There are around 1,200 retail outlets in the state. Of this about 125 are owned by oil companies, which do not participate in the strike.

Besides seeking a higher commission from the petrol and diesel that they sell, dealers have also been asking oil companies to revise rates of transportation of fuel to retail pumps.

The main contention, though, remains that dealers have been receiving lesser amount of fuel than is being despatched and this is because the fuel is loaded on to the tankers at ambient temperature.

"The average daily sale of motor spirit or petrol and high speed diesel is about eight crore litre with a daily revenue of about Rs 23 crore. But with the strike, the dealers are losing sales worth Rs 11-12 crore on a daily basis," said Shivlal Bhanderi, vice-president, Gujarat Petroleum Dealers Association (GPDA).

He added that the daily loss is close to 50 per cent.

Bhanderi said the National Association of Petroleum Dealers has also supported the cause of the Gujarat dealers and are likely to join the agitation.

"But after the three-day protest that ends on Friday, we will continue to operate normally till December 16, when a decision on the indefinite strike will be taken," Bhanderi said.

Commenting on the demand related to commission, the GPDA office bearer said dealers want this to be percentage-based.

"While oil companies earn about two rupees on the sale of every litre of MS and HSD, dealers get about 70 paise per litre on sale of MS and about 40 paise on sale of every litre of HSD. This is not fair and we have been demanding that five per cent of the cost of petrol and diesel must be given to dealers," Bhanderi said.