Palghar motorists fuel up at nearby Gujarat bunks

As the prices of fuel are less in Gujarat, people from the border areas of Maharashtra are visiting the neighbouring state to fill up their tanks

Mumbai Thanks to the fuel hike, Palghar, Dahanu, Boisar, Talasari and Jawhar motorists are driving to the nearby Gujarat bunks to fill up petrol and diesel in the hopes of saving some precious bucks.

At various petrol pumps, particularly at Bhilad, Umargaon on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Highway in Gujarat, many vehicles with Maharashtra number plates are making a beeline for fuel (Bhushan Koyande)

As the prices of fuel are less in Gujarat, people from the border areas of Maharashtra are visiting the neighbouring state to fill up their tanks. At various petrol pumps, particularly at Bhilad, Umargaon on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Highway in Gujarat, many vehicles with Maharashtra number plates are making a beeline for fuel.

On Tuesday, the price of petrol in Valsad district in Gujarat, which is about 12 km from Palghar, was ₹99.94, while a litre of diesel was ₹94.09 and CNG was ₹71.84. Whereas in Palghar, petrol was priced at ₹114.62 on Tuesday, while diesel was ₹97.38 and CNG was ₹66.

Meanwhile, certain petrol bunk owners have put up hoardings in Talasari which ask people to fill petrol in Gujarat as the prices are high in Maharashtra.

Suresh Kate, a resident of Talasari said, “As the petrol bunks are hardly 12 km away from here, we prefer to go there to fill up our tanks.”

“In Gujarat, petrol and diesel prices are at least cheaper by around ₹12 to ₹15 per litre. It is affordable to us as hardly half a litre of fuel is spent to go and come back from the Bhilad bunks,” said Santosh Patil, a media professional. He further added that he is saving a lot of money by filling his tank to the full.

Javed Khan, a truck driver, said that most transporters have decided to fill up fuel in the neighbouring state before entering Maharashtra. Another senior transporter said that truckers, if need be, may also carry extra fuel tanks to avoid refuelling at Maharashtra.