AP Loses Rs 2,500 Crore Revenue A Year Due To Shady Sale Of Diesel In Bulk

Vijayawada: The Andhra Pradesh government is losing revenue in the form of valued added tax and other taxes worth Rs 2,000 to Rs 2,500 crore per annum due to illegal sale of diesel across the state.The diesel mafia mainly from Yanam, Pondicherry, Gujarat and Karnataka is getting diesel from the oil refineries and unauthorisedly transporting in bulk and selling it at worksites in Amaravati and at other places. While diesel in fuel stations costs Rs 97 per litre, the diesel mafia sells this at a lower price ranging from Rs 85 to Rs 90. The state government imposes a value added tax of 22.25 per cent on base price in addition to Rs 4 as additional VAT and Rs 1 as road cess per litre of diesel. Petroleum dealers say hundreds of oil tankers with a carrying capacity of 40,000 litres are entering AP and selling the diesel for bulk usage. Bowsers of 2 KL or 3 KL capacity are entering the state without valid permissions and selling the product to make high profit. As this illegal practice has been going on for some time, the petroleum traders have noticed that this is not only denting revenue to the state exchequer but also affecting their day-to-day business. They have brought the issue to the notice of the state government and got circulars issued to curb this practice. President of the AP federation of petroleum traders Gopala Krishna said, “We have contacted departments like the civil supplies and transport and would also bring this to the notice of the chief minister.” Fuel traders have urged the government to form a joint committee with stakeholder departments like civil supplies, transport, explosives, legal metrology, police, commercial tax, vigilance and oil marketing companies so that they would finalise an action plan to stop this practice. General secretary of the AP federation of petroleum traders, Ravi Kumar, said, “The unauthorised sale is causing a steep decline in our daily sales at fuel bunks and affecting the money flow to the outlets. We are unable to even meet the mandatory operational expenses.”



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