TIRUPATI: Several petrol bunks on the border areas of Andhra Pradesh have been closed due to lack of business. Majority of the vehicle users and truck drivers cross the border to tank up as the price difference is huge.
Recently, a petrol bunk located in V Kota mandal of Chittoor district was closed down due to losses. V Kota is close to Karnataka. The managements of the petrol bunks on the border areas of Karnataka have set up hoardings with details of price difference in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka for luring commuters.
There are 320 petrol bunks in the erstwhile Chittoor district, with each having an average sale of 12 lakh litres of petrol and 22 lakh litres of diesel a day. Nearly 16 of the 31 mandals of erstwhile Chittoor district share borders with either Tamil Nadu or Karnataka. Satyavedu and Sullurpeta in Tirupati district are also close to Tamil Nadu.
Around 35 petrol bunks located in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka are close to Chittoor and 15 bunks in Tamil Nadu are close to Tirupati. These bunks are just 5-10 kilometres away from the Andhra Pradesh border. A large number of residents of Palasamudram mandal in Chittoor travel to Tamil Nadu to fuel their vehicles.
"The price of petrol in neighbouring Karnataka is nearly Rs 10-11 less and that of diesel Rs 13 less than the prices in Andhra Pradesh. So, the majority of the truck drivers from the district and from other parts tank up in the fuel bunks on the border in Karnataka. Even, two-wheeler and three-wheeler riders are also moving towards the villages of Karnataka for petrol and diesel," said K Sudhakar, a resident of V Kota mandal.
The prices of petrol and diesel for one litre in Tamil Nadu are Rs 8 less and Rs 4 less, respectively, when compared to that in Andhra Pradesh. Though the number of vehicles in the last five years has increased in Chittoor and Tirupati districts, there has been no corresponding increase in the fuel trade because of the same reason.
"Value Added Tax (VAT) on fuel in AP is high compared to that in Tamil Nadu. So the majority of vehicle owners tank up on the other side of the border. Only a few dealers in the district are getting profits," said NV Subbaiah, a petrol bunk dealer from Tirupati division.