This is not the first time that V. Adimoolam, a regular cab operator from Chennai whirrs past the petrol stations in Nagari to reach similar stations across the Tamil Nadu border. There are several cab drivers, and indeed, individual travellers too, who make it a point to fill their tanks on the Tamil Nadu side.
Tirupati-Chennai Highway, the high-density traffic route, is a silent witness to this ‘cross border trade’. As the price of petrol crosses ₹120 and diesel ₹106 in Andhra Pradesh, travellers as well as the residents of the bordering Tirupati and Chittoor districts are found increasingly moving to the contiguous Tamil Nadu to buy fuel.
A. Suresh, owner of Srinivasa Petro Products, the dealer for Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) in Nagari, the State’s last town towards Chennai, says the entire sand and stone quarrying units in the region have shifted their fuel procurement to Tamil Nadu. There are as many as four stations between Nagari and Pallipattu (Tamil Nadu) just across the border, preying on travellers to and from Andhra Pradesh.
The Tamil Nadu government’s decision to reduce VAT on petroleum products, taken immediately after M. K. Stalin took over as the Chief Minister, resulted in a drastic dip of ₹4, further widening the existing gap of around ₹6, which obviously sounded the death-knell for the bordering fuel stations. “The only way we are surviving is by liberally giving credit to transport operators and bus services”, Mr. Suresh told The Hindu. He had also represented to the company to reduce VAT at least in the bordering areas to save them from the brink of collapse.
Nagari, a weavers’ hub, has many cross-border travellers who commute to Podatturpettai, Pallipattu and Tiruthani. “There are bunks just 5km away from Nagari. Motorcyclists fill ten litres of petrol to save ₹110, which is a sizeable amount”, observes C.E. Mohan Kumar, an academician working in an engineering college in Tiruthani.
The situation is no different on the Chittoor-Vellore Highway, which is yet another route that frequently witnesses ‘border area clamour’. The petrol stations clearly display the petrol and diesel prices in Andhra Pradesh, so as to woo the long distance travellers to their side. They seem to have no qualms in openly publicising this difference. Apart from the ‘locational advantage’, one station in Katpadi even offers 1kg of Basmati rice to those buying 100 litres of diesel, which many feel is certain to attract the attention of long-distance trucks.
