Dealers said to be hoarding petroleum products

All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) General Secretary J. Jayalalithaa alleged that the talks about the proposed hike in the prices of the petroleum products had led to hoarding of the products by dealers in many parts of Tamil Nadu. In a statement, she urged the Center to give up the proposal, if any, to hike the price. Jayalalithaa said many bunks in Chennai, Madurai, Coimbatore, Villupuram and Tirunelveli have stopped selling regular petrol and diesel on the grounds that they had no stock. But they continue to sell branded fuels, which costs Rs3 (US$0.07) more per liter. Jayalalithaa said though people had alleged that dealers were hoarding the regular fuel in view of the proposed hike in petroleum products, dealers had complained that they were not being given adequate supply because of the problems faced by the Chennai Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (June 2, 2008)