Sixty-five CNG pump owners and authorised dealers across Banaskantha and the Vav-Tharad belt have announced a 24-hour shutdown from 6 AM on August 19, with a threat to go indefinite the following week if their demands go unanswered. The dispute is with IRM Gas Company, the region’s CNG supplier, and centres on a commission structure dealers say has not changed since 2019 even as their operating costs have climbed, according to Gujarat Samachar. A first round of talks in Palanpur on August 10 ended without resolution, and dealers followed up with a second meeting on August 15 where all 65 operators formally agreed to the strike date.
A commission frozen for six years
CNG retailing works on a thin margin passed down from the gas company to the pump operator, and dealers argue that margin has stayed fixed while wages, maintenance and compliance costs have all risen since 2019. Dealers have also flagged price differences between pumps in different locations under the same supplier, which they say confuses customers and undercuts smaller outlets. The demands were put to IRM Gas Company by email ahead of an August 19 deadline for what dealers called a satisfactory response, per the same report.
What it means for drivers in North Gujarat
Banaskantha and the Vav-Tharad corridor sit along a busy stretch of trade and transport routes near the Rajasthan border, and CNG has become the default fuel for a large share of commercial and private vehicles there because it is cheaper than petrol or diesel. A one-day closure is mostly an inconvenience, but the indefinite strike threatened for next week would leave transporters and daily commuters with far fewer refuelling options in a district that already has limited CNG infrastructure compared with Ahmedabad or Surat. If the dispute drags on, it also puts pressure on IRM Gas Company’s broader retail network, since dealer unrest in one district tends to spread to neighbouring ones when the underlying grievance, stagnant commissions against rising costs, is shared.
What to watch next
The immediate question is whether IRM Gas Company responds before the August 19 deadline with a revised commission offer, which would likely head off the escalation. If not, the indefinite strike would be the more consequential story, since it would affect fuel access rather than just make a one-day point.
Sources: Gujarat Samachar, TV9 Gujarati
This report was compiled and written with AI assistance from publicly reported sources, and reviewed for accuracy.