Avinash Deshmukh, a farmer from Maharashtra’s Dharashiv district, is a worried man. With the sowing season approaching, he has not yet been able to procure enough diesel for his tractor. Like other farmers in the district, he too queues up for fuel at a local petrol pump but is turned back.
He said, “I am sowing sugarcane which requires a tractor to prepare the land. I went to a petrol pump, but he asked me to come later as diesel was not available.”
After all, Mr. Deshmukh is feeling the pain of the West Asia war. A day after the Center hiked fuel prices for the fourth time to cut losses of its oil marketing companies (OMCs), petrol pumps in several parts of the country on Tuesday reported fuel shortages and supply disruptions as people rushed to stock up despite efforts by authorities to calm nerves and curb hoarding.
In Maharashtra, farmers in Dharashiv, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Jalna districts said they have not been able to buy diesel. In talukas and small towns, there are long lines outside filling stations and people are parking tractors in the queue.
The Petrol Pump Dealers Association of Punjab said there were reports of short supply of petrol and diesel, following which some retail shops were remaining closed. PPDA General Secretary Rajesh Kumar told The Hindu The association wrote a letter to the state government last week, warning of the “serious” situation that was emerging.
“Many petrol pumps are being completely closed, leading to long queues. Punjab is currently in the peak agricultural season, when the demand for diesel for essential agricultural operations is at its highest. This shortage is directly threatening agricultural activities, farmers’ livelihoods, transportation and essential services,” the letter said.
Mr Kumar said the Deputy Commissioners have asked petrol pumps to maintain a minimum stock of 1,000 liters of petrol and 2,000 liters of diesel at all times. “But limited and irregular supplies from OMCs have made it almost impossible to simultaneously meet the stock requirement and serve customers,” he said.
In Bengaluru, fuel stations reported supply shortages, with several operators saying they were receiving only one tanker a day instead of the usual two loads. Fuel pump owners said the reduced supply has led to increased pressure during peak hours, raising the possibility of temporary stock out if the situation continues. Some pumps have faced slight disruption in regular petrol availability due to late arrival of tankers. The 24-hour fuel station at RR Nagar has closed operations overnight to conserve stock. However, operators said that at present there is no major shortage of petrol or diesel in the city.
ad hoc restrictions
Petrol pump owners in Rajasthan have filed a PIL in the High Court over alleged arbitrary restrictions imposed by OMCs on fuel sales. The plea said IOC, BPCL and HPCL are bypassing the formal regulatory framework to cut fuel supply and issuing verbal instructions and WhatsApp messages directing dealers to sell limited quantities of fuel.
Shashank Korani, general secretary of Rajasthan Petroleum Dealers Association, said deliveries at the pumps have fallen by 30% to 35%. The association said that against the estimated normal consumption of 50 lakh liters of petrol and 1.30 crore liters of diesel per day in the state, the outlets are getting 20 lakh to 25 lakh liters of petrol and 70 lakh to 80 lakh liters of diesel per day. Of the 6,712 fuel outlets across the state, around 1,500 are operating with very low stocks.
Some outlets are running closed due to supply shortage, leaving dealers facing possible action by the authorities, as petrol pumps are required to maintain minimum stocks under the Essential Commodities Act.
Due to limited fuel availability, fuel purchase was banned at some pumps in Bihar, including Patna and Gaya. Two-wheelers can fill petrol for ₹200, cars for ₹1,000 and heavy vehicles for ₹2,500.
‘Panic buying’
Some have blamed panic buying for the shortage. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said there has been a sudden increase in demand for petrol and diesel, leading to a “shortage-like situation” in the state. He said the government is investigating whether the fuel is being hoarded or it is being sent for commercial use illegally.
“In case of petrol, demand is 23% higher than average consumption, while diesel demand has increased by 52%,” he said.
Mr Fadnavis said consumption in Akola district has increased by 154%, while in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Beed districts it has increased by more than 70%.
Pump owners in Kolkata have flagged fuel hoarding amid rumors of a supply crisis. The sudden surge in sales has left some pumps dry, indicating people are stockpiling fuel. John Mukherjee, president of the Indian Oil Dealers Forum, West Bengal, said, “No major supply problem has been reported so far. A few pumps have gone dry in some areas, but this is mostly due to hoarding.”
Kanchan Dao, owner of a Bharat Petroleum pump in the central Kolkata area, said there is a lot of misinformation regarding fuel supply, which is leading to hoarding. Mr. Dau said, “At present there is no shortage of supply. But the central government has been requested not to allow anyone to hoard fuel out of panic, so we are trying to make people aware about it.” The Hindu.
No shortage, but self-regulation
While fuel stations in Madhya Pradesh’s Bhopal saw no shortage of supply, some have imposed limits and restrictions on commercial sales on a large scale. Fuel pump owner Rajesh Kumar said that in view of the current situation, the sale of diesel in large containers for commercial purposes has been stopped. “We have stopped providing diesel in drums, stopped selling to private companies like construction or manufacturing businesses,” Mr Kumar said.
Although there has been no shortage in Andhra Pradesh, Ravi Gopal Krishna, president of the state’s Petroleum Traders Federation, said they have seen “about 10% to 15% decline in consumption of fuel, especially petrol, after continuous price hikes.”
In Tamil Nadu, VC Ashokan, state-level coordinator of the oil industry, said a few days ago there was an increase in sales due to increase in agricultural activities and a clear shift of institutional customers towards retail outlets. However, dealers said fuel supply in some retail outlets was affected and shops ran dry, leading to increased sales in nearby shops.
In Telangana, OMCs said demand for petroleum products has increased significantly in recent times due to pickup in agricultural and harvesting activities along with major grain procurement operations. In the first three weeks of May, diesel sales in Telangana grew by 12.6% and petrol by 9% compared to the same period last year.
OMCs call for peace
Oil companies assured the public on Tuesday there was no fuel shortage and urged people to avoid “panic buying”.
“BPCL has maintained adequate fuel availability at its retail outlets with active replenishment and operational monitoring across the country,” the company said on social media.
HPCL sent a message of calm, saying, “Our retail outlets across the country continue normal operations with stable fuel availability… No uncertainty. No disruption.”
But this did not calm people’s panic as rumors of fuel and LPG shortage led to panic buying in some areas of Uttar Pradesh, leading to long queues at many petrol pumps. Videos of people waiting in long queues at fuel stations in Lakhimpur Kheri and Bahriaich went viral.
Amid such reports of panic buying, the Gujarat government urged residents not to crowd at fuel stations, assuring that there is no shortage of fuel. State government spokesperson and cabinet minister Jitu Vaghani said adequate stocks of petrol and diesel are available and the administration is closely monitoring the distribution in coordination with OMCs to ensure uninterrupted supply at retail outlets.
Speaking to reporters at the bi-weekly West Asia briefing on Monday, Sujata Sharma, joint secretary in the Union petroleum ministry, had said incidents of panic buying at pumps have been reported in some districts of Gujarat, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh.
He had said, “The primary reasons we analyzed include agricultural demand, shift of wholesale consumer demand to retail and rapid consumer migration from the private sector to the public sector.”
The Hindu The Petroleum Ministry was contacted for comment on the latest findings in Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli, Jalgaon and Buldhana districts late on Tuesday (May 26, 2026). The story will be updated as soon as it is received.
(With inputs from Bengaluru, Bhopal, Chandigarh, Chennai, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, Mumbai and Patna)
