Business | Oil & Gas
India's fuel crisis ends as strike falters
India's fuel crisis eased on Friday as a strike by oil sector workers ended on its third day after the government called in troops to load tankers and threatened to imprison union leaders.
- Agencies
- Published: 17:56 January 10, 2009
New Delhi: India's fuel crisis eased on Friday as a strike by oil sector workers ended on its third day after the government called in troops to load tankers and threatened to imprison union leaders.
The strike by white-collar workers of state-run firms who were demanding better pay had triggered panic buying, cut natural gas and crude oil output in the energy-hungry nation and delayed flights.
"We have called off the strike in the public interest," said Sanjay Varshney, a spokesman for the unions.
The government had said the strike was illegal and had invoked laws that forbid the obstruction of essential commodities.
"They cannot hold the country to ransom," Petroleum Secretary R.S. Pandey told reporters.
Union leaders representing oil workers and company officials held talks for two hours late on Thursday but could not reach an agreement.
"They are causing immense hardship to the country and its citizens," Pandey said. "They have defied court orders. They have repeatedly defied appeals of the government."
Oil Minister Murli Deora said he expected fuel supplies to return to normal by Saturday morning. Pandey said more than 60 percent of retail outlets in major cities were now open.
Earlier, four-fifths of petrol stations in large cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Kolkata had run out of stocks and supplies to airlines had suffered, industry officials said. Dozens of flights were delayed.
A separate truckers' strike that began on Monday added to the government's woes.
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