More than 6,300 petrol pumps in Rajasthan remained closed from 10 am to 6 pm on September 13 as part of a strike by operators against high VAT on diesel and petrol. The petrol pumps will remain closed for the same duration on September 14 as well.
Rajendra Singh Bhati, State President of the Rajasthan Petroleum Dealers' Association — which called the strike — said the protest was against high VAT on fuel in the state. If the state government does not fulfil our demands of reducing VAT, a decision would be taken on September 15 to go on an indefinite strike, Bhati said.
Former state president of the association Sunit Bagai said VAT in Rajasthan is higher than neighbouring states like Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat, and people in border areas go to these states to get fuel. "Several petrol pumps in Hanumangarh and other bordering areas in Rajasthan have been shut in the last few years because of losses. People go to neighbouring states for buying petrol and diesel, causing losses to petro pumps in Rajasthan," he said.
It also causes revenue loss to the state government, he said. Bagai said the association has been raising the demand for a long time but there has been no response from the state government.
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