3 min readAhmedabadMay 16, 2026 08:58 AM ISTFollowing a high-level Cabinet meeting, Minister Jitu Vaghani announced a new monitoring cell to track fuel inventory daily and keep the state moving without disruptions (File)THE STATE government has set up a monitoring cell to review the supply of petrol and diesel in the state to avoid any possibility of dryout, officials said on Friday.Following instructions by Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel to monitor the quantity of petrol and diesel available in the state on a daily basis, the Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department is monitoring the situation from Gandhinagar.A meeting of the State Council of Ministers was convened under the chairmanship of CM Patel on Friday.“The monitoring cell has been set up in the state to review the supply system to ensure that citizens do not face any problem,” state Agriculture and Cooperation Minister Jitu Vaghani said while briefing mediapersons about the arrangements made.The monitoring cell was activated on May 11 and the situation has been monitored closely over the past two days, with the petroleum branch getting daily reports from the Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) generating district as well as state wise reports along with reports from over 7,500 individual fuel stations across the state.Senior government officials said that although the OMCs too have monitoring cells, the government is strictly monitoring and immediately taking required action. “There is no shortage of fuel. In the past few days, outlets’ sales have increased by 30-40 per cent, possibly also due to price hike speculation but the situation has eased out today. To refill, the OMCs have extended the timings of their deports opening from 6 am instead of 9 am,” a government official told this newspaper.Officials added that the monitoring cell is taking regular review meetings and would remain active till the situation improves.Story continues below this adOn Friday, in accordance with the appeal made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for economical use of the country’s resources and ‘Save Fuel’, the state government declared that 300 new buses would be pressed into service from Saturday on various routes of the state “without any grand inauguration ceremony.”“Despite the launch of such a large number of buses, no grand inauguration ceremony, ribbon cutting or VIP programmes as per protocol will be organised. The main objective behind this approach of the state government is to keep public welfare paramount instead of festivities. Usually, on the occasion of the launch of such big projects, thousands of litres of fuel and lakhs of rupees of government money are wasted in bringing buses from far and wide to the programme venue as per protocol and in grand events,” the state government said in a release.It added that keeping in mind the present situation, the Chief Minister has resolved to have ‘Zero Ceremony’ with the aim of saving fuel and also protecting the environment. Deputy Chief Minister Harsh Sanghavi said that with the implementation of the state government’s decision, these 300 new buses would start plying directly from the designated depots.Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram© The Indian Express Pvt LtdTags:ahmedabadAdvertisementLoading Recommendations...AdvertisementLive BlogIran US War News LIVE Updates: Iran’s FM warns US of rising economic costs from Trump’s ‘war of choice’24 minutes agoJustice Swarana Kanta Sharma won’t hear excise case, to continue with contempt action against Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia, others1 hour agoKerala SSLC 10th Result 2026 LIVE Updates: 4.09 lakh pass; result out at prd.kerala.gov.in2 hours agoTrump-Xi Summit LIVE: Meeting ends with Xi and Trump claiming progress but differences remain13 hours agoHBSE 10th Result 2026, bseh.org.in Highlights: Scorecards out at bseh.org.in, check list of toppers22 hours ago