Pay for adulterated fuel in Mumbai

Mumbai: When you pay for fuel at an Indian Oil or Hindustan Petroleum outlet in Mumbai, in all likelihood you may be getting adulterated fuel at the price of pure one. In Mumbai stolen petrol and diesel is available in an open market, at price cheaper at least 20-50 per cent than the market value.

In a special investigation, CNN-IBN found out that stolen fuel is being sold outside the main terminals of Indian Oil and Hindustan Petroleum at Wadala and Shuri areas in Mumbai. The dealers were caught on the secret camera saying that they take out the fuel from the tankers when these are parked outside the companies’ terminals.

“Pay Rs 750 for a can of 20 litres of petrol,” said Dada the ‘fuel dealer’.

CNN-IBN correspondent Hindol Sengupta posed as a buyer and was taken to a hidden spot at stone’s throw distance from the IOC and HP terminals. The dealer opened the cans of fuel and when he was asked about the purity of the product, he pointed said the fuel was right out of the IOC and HP tankers. The dealer sold 20 litres of diesel for Rs 500—similar quantity that actually costs Rs 699 in the market.

“Come at 7 pm and you can get any amount of petrol,” the dealer was caught telling on the hidden camera.

Sources hint that there is a close nexus that operates between fuel mafia, police and the company officials. The illegal business of stolen fuel is going on right under the nose of the authorities but when contacted the IOC and Hindustan Petroleum officials said they are helpless.

“We don’t have that kind of manpower available to take care of what’s happening on the roads,” said Satwant Singh General Manager Maharashtra and Goa Indian Oil.

The police too refused the address the problem as a serious one. “Mumbai is a very vast area. Thousands of tankers are parked there and we are facing manpower problem,” said Y P Dhoom DCP (Port), Mumbai.

While the oil companies are not ready to disclose how much fuel are they losing due to this, clearly the figure seems much higher than the usual ‘lost in transit’ amount.

Indian Oil—that has an 11,000 kilo-leter diesel capacity at Wadala is fighting back, by cutting out tankers in transport. Last year, it set up two pipelines from Wadala. For every liter of fuel that’s robbed, something else like Naphtha is added.

Home Ministry sources told CNN-IBN that while the number the vehicles have gone up by 78 per cent in the last 5-years, fuel sales have hardly increased (Sale of petrol up 10 per cent, sale of diesel up only 14 per cent). Clearly something is amiss. All this adds up to one thing—adulterated fuel for the consumer and losses for the company.

(For updates you can share with your friends, follow IBNLive on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest)