India’s Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas just pulled the plug on commercial fuel buyers at retail pumps. Starting June 11, 2026, industrial, commercial, and institutional consumers are banned from purchasing petrol and diesel at the country’s retail fuel stations, a move designed to stop bulk buyers from draining subsidized supplies meant for ordinary consumers.
The restriction lasts up to 90 days and forces large-scale users to source their fuel from authorized bulk-sale points or their own consumer pumps instead. For individual customers, diesel purchases are now capped at 200 liters per customer or vehicle per day, with a strict prohibition on resale.
The price gap problem
India’s fuel market has been running a two-tier pricing system where subsidized retail fuel costs significantly less than bulk-supply prices. That gap created an obvious arbitrage opportunity, and commercial buyers noticed.
The result was what the government describes as “abnormal surges” in retail sales. Bulk consumers were essentially gaming the system, buying cheaper fuel at retail pumps instead of through proper commercial channels.
