Indian government owned oil and gas company Bharat Petroleum has extended a helping hand to Sri Lanka amid the dire economic conditions in the country, by refueling aircrafts at Indian airports.

As Sri Lanka reels under the effects of its worst economic crisis since independence, the country has witnessed an acute fuel shortage.

Bharat Petroleum shared in a post on Thursday that as many as 100 Lankan flights have been refueled so far at Trivandrum, Chennai and Kochi airports.

The company wrote on Twitter, “United with Sri Lanka. We are pleased to support SriLankan Airlines, with the refueling of their long-haul flights at Indian airports, to overcome the Jet Fuel shortage in their country. So far, more than 100 flights have been refuelled at Trivandrum, Chennai and Kochi airports.”

In a subsequent tweet, Bharat Petroleum said that they have been associated with SriLankan Airlines for over a decade.

They said, “These refuelings have been done over the last fortnight by mobilising the assets and manpower for the on time service, at very short notice. We have been associated with SriLankan Airlines for over a decade, as their refuelling partners.”

Replying to the post, SriLankan Airlines wrote, “Thank you, BPC Limited. We truly value our partnership.”

It may be noted that the management of SriLankan Airlines issued an internal memo to its employees last week in which it announced that the airline had run out of jet fuel stocks on June 29.

Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, Ranil Wickremsinghe had referred to the airlines while speaking about the economy. He said that the state enterprises incurred massive losses and as on March 31, 2021, SriLankan Airlines is in a debt of Rs 541 billion.