People queue up at Gujarat petrol pumps, some outlets go dry on panic buying
This story was originally published at 22:29 IST on 23 March 2026
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AHMEDABAD – Long queues were seen at petrol pumps across major cities in Gujarat Monday evening due to panic buying amid rising concern linked to the ongoing military conflict in the West Asia.
The rush was such that some of the retail fuel outlets were forced to temporarily suspend their operations after they ran out of the stock. However, the state government and petrol pump owners played down the situation. "Ahmedabad has around 210 pumps. Of these, only four or five seem to be facing shutdown due to operational reasons, causing panic," said Arvind Thakker, former president of the Federation of Gujarat Petroleum Dealers Association, in a video message. "There is enough petrol and diesel available with petrol pumps and no disruption of supply from any oil companies."
Similar disruptions were reported from Rajkot in Saurashtra region and Surat in South Gujarat, where some petrol pumps closed down due to non-availability of fuel. According to Federation of petroleum dealers association, about eight petrol pumps in Rajkot and five in Surat faced temporary stock-outs. "Some dealers faced payment-related issues over the weekend, which delayed replenishment," said Dhimant Ghelani, secretary of the association. "Supplies are ongoing and pumps will be restocked shortly."
Later, Gujarat deputy chief minister Harsh Sanghvi in series of statements tried to assure citizens of ample availability of fuel. He also issued warnings to "rumour mongers" of dire consequences. A review meeting under the chairmanship of chief minister Bhupendra Patel, too, was held on the situation of fuel stock availability in the state.
"We have enough buffer stock too, so no citizen should panic or line up at petrol pumps," said Mona Kandhar, additional chief secretary, food and civil supplies, Gujarat, in a statement. End
Reported by Sunil Raghu
Edited by Akul Nishant Akhoury
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