As fuel prices in India continue to rise for the 16th day today, people of Bihar close to the Nepal border have managed to thwart the system.

Instead of refuelling their vehicles this side of the border, residents of Bihar, especially Raxaul and Sitamarhi, prefer to drive down to the neighbouring country to get fuel. This is because petrol is cheaper in Nepal by around Rs 15 and diesel by Rs 18 as compared to the prices in India.

Today morning, petrol was recorded at Rs 80.66 per litre while diesel was at Rs 72.97 a litre, whereas, in Nepal, the prices stood at Nepalese Rupees 67.81 and Nepalese Rupees 56.56 respectively.

It is to be noted that INR100 is equivalent to Nepalese Rupee 160.15.

In Sitamarhi, there is another plot afoot: people are buying cheap petrol and diesel in Nepal and selling it in India. Sitamarhi is just 30-40 km away from the Nepal border.

Jagdish Yadav, an officer with the Nepal Oil Corporation, said there had been a 15-20 per cent increase in the sale of petrol in the last few days near the border of the neighbouring country.

While the NOC is enjoying the profits, the petrol pumps on this side of the border in Bihar are facing losses with the locals preferring to buy their fuel from Nepal.

Ironically, India supplies petroleum products to Nepal. Each day, 250 tankers of oil are supplied to the neighbouring country.

Oil prices in India are skyrocketing due to several taxes being levied upon it by the centre and the states while Nepal has a single tax regime.

The lax attitude of the administration and a porous border in Nepal has facilitated this nuisance.

Bharatiya Janata Party's MP from west Champaran, Sanjay Jaiswal, told India Today that while he was aware of the racket, he was helpless as high fuel prices were forcing locals in Bihar to take the route to another country. He said that this disparity in fuel prices was because of the taxes levied on petrol and diesel.

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