Gurgaon: Jat agitation fear leads to spike in fuel sales

Jat leaders, however, have assured on Sunday to pull out of the march to Delhi on Monday after discussions with the government.

As uncertainty over Jat community’s march to Delhi and the possible chaos on Monday loomed, residents rushed to stock fuel for vehicles.

Fuel pump owners reported a surge in sales on Sunday as Gurgaon residents rushed to get tanks filled. (Parveen Kumar/HT Photo)

Alka Sinha was one of the many people who queued up outside the petrol pump near Iffco Chowk Metro station on Sunday. Alka’s daughter Riya has her CBSE board examination on Monday and she was uncertain whether the stations would be dispensing fuel on Monday.

“I am running on half a tank of fuel. Although I could have filled petrol on Monday, there is no certainty whether fuel pumps will be dispensing fuel on Monday owing to the possible Jat agitation,” Alka said.

Jat leaders, however, have assured on Sunday to pull out of the march to Delhi on Monday after discussions with the government.

DLF Phase 1 resident Vikas Jindal who travels to Agra bi-weekly for his business also hurried to a fuel station to fill the tank full.

“I am scheduled to visit Agra on Tuesday and I cannot afford a fuel shortage crisis on Monday as I need to look at the financial year reports and, accordingly, make plans for the next fiscal,” Jindal said.

Fuel pump owners across the city reported a surge in sales.

Rahul Chopra, director of Haryana City Gas Distribution, which has the distribution rights of CNG in Haryana said there was at least a 10% spike in sales till the evening shift (6am to 4pm) on Sunday compared to the previous Sunday (March 12).

“Many people queued at the CNG pumps, especially in the morning. After reading our collection, it exceeded the sales of last Sunday,” Chopra said.

Utkarsh Bhatt who owns a fuel station on the service lane of the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway near Rajiv Chowk said he is yet to assess Sunday’s earnings but the long queues at the pump indicated that there would be at least a hike of over 20% from Saturday’s collection.