Demand for fuel in Bengaluru stagnates as prices rise

The daily hike in the prices of petrol and diesel has seen the demand for fuel stagnate, as evident at retail outlets. Fuel stations, which saw the demand slowly rising to pre-Covid times, have seen sales stagnate over the past one month.

Bengaluru has about 400 fuel retail outlets selling an average of 6,000 litres of petrol and 4,000 litres of diesel before the lockdown. After the pandemic hit, many outlets sold less than 1,000 litres of both the fuels combined.

“In the past few months, we saw the demand recovering slowly. Petrol sales picked up rapidly and came close to the pre-pandemic levels. However, over the past three or four weeks, the demand is hovering around 5,000 litres,” said Karnataka Federation of Petroleum Dealers’ Association vice president Tharanath.

He said those on the outskirts, especially in Bellandur, Sarjapur, Varthur and Electronics City, are unable to sell more than 6,000 litres of petrol and diesel a day compared to 13,000 litres in the pre-Covid era, thanks to the work-from-home option.

According to data available in the public domain, the price of petrol has gone up by Rs 4 in a matter of three months in Bengaluru. At the beginning of December, the price stood at Rs 86/litre and increased to Rs 90 as of Saturday.

Girish K Gowda, who works in Peenya, said he stopped using his two-wheeler from the past two months.

“There has been no end to a petrol price hike. I decided to travel by BMTC bus though I have to spend hours waiting for the buses. The government needs to understand the plight of the common man and reduce the prices urgently,” he said.

Meanwhile, the owner of a retail outlet said there is no sign of the price hike stopping in the immediate future.

“The increase in price is set to continue gradually,” he said.