India’s government says there are adequate fuel stocks despite shortages due to the Middle East war, but panicking citizens have triggered long queues at filling stations, AFP reports.

Retail prices in India have, however, held steady, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government saying it has “adequate crude inventories” and “sufficient stock of petrol and diesel”.

“Don’t indulge in panic buying,” India’s top oil ministry official Sujata Sharma told reporters yesterday. But several parts of the vast country have witnessed just that nonetheless.

Police guarded fuel depots in the western state of Gujarat after sales reportedly doubled.

Several pumps in the southern state of Telangana put up “no stock” signs after a surge in sales, the Hindustan Times newspaper reported.