About 2,000 petroleum dealers in the State, affiliated to the All Kerala Federation of Petroleum Traders (AKFPT), will keep their petrol-diesel outlets closed on January 23 in protest against the alleged move of petroleum companies to grant no objection certificate NoC for setting up new petrol-diesel outlets in the State.
M. Thomas Vaidyan, president of the organisation, said, after a State meeting of the AKFPT here on Monday, that oil companies had granted NoCs for setting up new outlets in the State without conducting any feasibility studies. Such a decision would reduce sales at established outlets, which have already been functioning in loss, Mr. Vaidyan said in a press release here. Moreover, the companies are not following the necessary criteria for opening new outlets, he said.
The meet raised the demands such as steps to ensure sustainability of the existing outlets and cancellation of licences granted to set up new outlets in the State after October 2014.
If the government adopted an indifferent attitude to the token strike, the association would intensify the agitation, he warned.
