Hyderabad, April 28 -- The Civil Supplies Department on Tuesday, April 28, said that since Sunday, it has aggressively increased statewide petroleum supplies by 126 per cent to stabilise local fuel stations that are currently facing strain from a sudden and unusually high demand.

The department has attributed the unexpected rush to a combination of three major factors.

Firstly, due to a recent price revision that raised industrial diesel to Rs 150 per litre, bulk commercial buyers are trying to exploit the system by filling up at regular public gas stations, where the price is still capped at Rs 95 per litre.

Secondly, supply issues in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra have caused heavy cross-border traffic, with out-of-state...