Fuel Availability in Leh Ladakh – How to Manage?

by Vargis.Khan

Fuel Availability in Leh Ladakh

Until a few years ago, fuel availability in Leh Ladakh was one of the most crucial parts to worry about while planning a road trip. If you were going via Manali, then the last petrol pump will be at Tandi and the last mechanic at Keylong. From the Srinagar side, your only hope of finding a mechanic or fuel was only at Kargil. If going sightseeing towards Nubra, Pangong, or Tso Moriri, the only fuel station was in Leh City and that was pretty much it.

But then those were the days when not many people went to Ladakh. These roads were occasionally used by either the locals, the Indian Army, or bikers. Ironically enough, it was never really the scenic beauty of Ladakh that used to draw tourists here back then. It was actually the remoteness of the region which was the real charm of Ladakh.

Also Read: How to Plan a Trip to Leh Ladakh – A Complete Travel Guide

The tough roads, challenging terrain, harsh weather, non-availability of basic amenities for miles is what attracted people here.  But all that is now in the past. Everything in Ladakh is different now.

Fuel Availability in Leh Ladakh

With the increasing number of tourists, facilities in Ladakh are now getting better too. Road conditions have gotten smoother, new hotels come up each year, more areas are getting opened to tourists, and connectivity by public transport has greatly improved. Among all these, the availability of fuel in Leh Ladakh also is now pretty much everywhere.

Surprised? Do not be. The tourism industry in Ladakh is flourishing and everyone here is trying their best to get the largest piece of this cake. There are no new petrol stations though so let me first clarify that. But Locals here have worked a way around it.

Almost on every major tourist route, you will easily get fuel either at the Dhabas, or Chadar tents or small shops. The surprising part however is the unlimited supply that the villagers have. If you drove in with a 45 liters Diesel tank empty, they will still have enough to fill it all the way to the top so you really got nothing to worry about.

They of course will add their margin to it so expect the price of the fuel to be anywhere between Rs. 100 – Rs. 125 per liter. This applies to both Petrol and Diesel.

Let me break it down by areas and mention where you will be able to find fuel.

Fuel Availability in Leh Ladakh

Petrol Pumps on Manali Leh Highway

The only petrol station between Manali to Leh is at Tandi and then at Karu as you get closer to Leh.  The total distance between Manali to Leh is about 473 kilometers. Tandi lies at a distance of about 110 kilometers from Manali and Karu is about 35 kilometers before Leh. So this leaves you about 330 kilometers to tackle without a petrol pump on the Manali Leh route.

This may have been a problem until some years ago but not anymore really. Apart from Tandi Petrol Pump, you will also easily find fuel at the several Chadar tents in between, including the ones at Sarchu and Pang. The Karu Petrol Pump also remains completely operational during the tourist season.

If you are however not too keen on buying fuel in black, then you will of course have to carry some spare. The first thing to do is to know what is your bike’s fuel tank capacity. If it is 15 liters then you may not even carry any fuel at all. Just get a tankful done at Tandi and it will see you until Leh easily.

If you are riding a bike like KTM Duke which can only carry 10 liters when full, then get a couple of 2 liters Pepsi or Coke Bottles and get those filled up at Tandi. Keep these bottles safe with the rest of your luggage. After every 50-60 odd kilometers, keep emptying these bottles one by one in the tank. Carry 3 such bottles and your job is done.

A safer way to carry petrol on the bike however will be in metal jerry cans. For more details, please take a look at How to carry Fuel Safely on a Motorcycle.

Petrol Pumps on Srinagar Leh Highway

There are petrol stations on the Srinagar Leh route at several places. From the Srinagar side, the last one is a little before Sonamarg. From the Leh side, it is at Khalsi, about 90 kilometers from Leh.

Srinagar Leh highway runs a total of about 420 kilometers. Sonamarg is about 80 odd kilometers from Srinagar. The distance between Sonamarg to Kargil is 125 kilometers. Kargil to Khalsi is 122 kilometers and Khalsi to Leh is about 96 kilometers.

So as you can see, you never really go too great a distance without a gas station. So fuel is not really a concern while plying on this route. Just keep getting a tank full at each of these petrol pumps and you will easily reach Leh without carrying any spare. Apart from the petrol pumps, you can also get fuel in Black at Sonamarg, Drass, and Lamayuru.

Also read: How to Prepare your Motorcycle for Ladakh Trip

Petrol Pump in Leh

I think this goes without saying but there is definitely a petrol pump in Leh city. You will find it operational irrespective of the time you arrive here. The other one nearby is the Karu Petrol Pump located about 35 kilometers from Leh City.

Petrol Pump in Nubra Valley

There is a hand-operated Petrol Pump in Diskit which happens to be the only Petrol Pump in Nubra Valley. There is no petrol pump in Hunder, Panamik, Turtuk, or any other village in Nubra Valley.

However, you will still get fuel in Black at all these places at small grocery or tea shops. Turtuk however is an exception where you may or may not get it. The petrol pump in Diskit will charge you at the regular price though, not in black.

Diskit is at a distance of 116 kilometers from Leh and Turtuk at 205 kilometers. The distance between Leh to Panamik is 141 kilometers and Diskit to Panamik is about 55 kilometers.

What I am getting at with this is that unless you were planning to head straight to Pangong from Nubra Valley, you do not actually have to worry about fuel while visiting Nubra Valley. One tank full at Leh will do the job for a round trip unless your bike has a really small fuel tank. In such a case, the petrol pump at Diskit will come to rescue.

petrol pump

Petrol Pump Near Pangong Lake

There is really no petrol pump near Pangong Lake. The closest one would be at Karu, about 190 kilometers away. There is no other petrol station at any of the villages en route including Sakti, Tangtse, Durbuk, Lukung, and Spangmik.

This statement however is only for a petrol pump. You will easily find fuel sold in black at almost everywhere on this route. Even the small Dhabas on the way will have it.

Also read: Mobile Services and Data Connectivity in Ladakh

Pangong is about 225 kilometers from Leh so a tankful at the city petrol station will safely see you arriving at the lake. Once you reach Pangong, ask at the Chadar tents right at the beginning of the lake. You will definitely find fuel there selling for Rs. 100 – 125 per liter.

Petrol Pump on Shyok Road

If you are traveling straight from Nubra to Pangong, you will not find fuel selling anywhere on Shyok road, even in Black. You will have to buy it from Diskit Petrol Station and then the next option is the Chadar tents at Pangong.

Petrol Pump on Chushul Route

If you were traveling on the Chushul route, going straight to Moriri from Pangong that is; then you will find fuel selling in black at Loma, Nyoma, Mahe, Hanle, and Karzok. The only sure shot option that I can confirm is the Padma Homestay at Hanle. They keep a limited fuel supply during the tourist season. Apart from this, you will find surely fuel selling at small shops at Nyoma and Karzok as well.

Petrol Pumps on Chumathang Route

I cannot really say this for sure but I think you will be able to buy fuel on this route as well, near Chumathang. You will not really need to though. One tank full from Leh will be enough to last till Karzok, about 211 kilometers in total. At Karzok, you can then again buy for your return journey if you were not carrying spare.

tandi petrol pump

Petrol Pump in Zanskar Valley

On the Zanskar side, there is a hand-operated petrol pump in Padum. Apart from this, the small shops at Sankoo, Parkachik, Panikhar, and Rangdum sell it in black. The Zanskar valley is not visited by all the tourists that come to Ladakh so availability here may sometimes become a problem. For Zanskar, I will still recommend that you carry fuel in spare from Kargil.

Also Read: Checklist of Things you must carry for Ladakh Trip

Conclusion

Things are definitely getting better in Ladakh and planning a trip here is now way easier than it was a decade ago. I hope the information above regarding fuel availability in Leh Ladakh was helpful. If you have any further questions, please feel free to ask in the comments section below, or at our Community Forum; and I will be glad to answer.

Related Articles

20 comments

Jayakumar Karuna May 29, 2022 - 4:53 pm

Hi Vargiskhan,

Salaam Alekum. Jay from Chennai-TN working as Software Professional. I would like to Visit LEH from Chennai on Road Trip.
Along with me, my wife and two daughters accompany. The vehicle will be Nissan Sunny – Petrol Ver.

Please let me know the itinerary CHENNAI to CHENNAI will be really useful to take the leave and other arrangements. Also let me know the budget. Thank you.

Insha Allah Bhai….. JAY

Reply
Shobitha Santhavar August 29, 2021 - 2:30 pm

Fantastic blog all the information for leh Ladakh trip is there, thank you so much, planning to come in Innova, with the changes you did to your car,next year God willing, Keep up the good work, you have been a great great help

Reply
JessiBrown April 25, 2022 - 10:01 pm

A group of travel adventurers from aboard recently made a trip to Ladakh in a rented self driven vehicle, rented from a reputed company in Delhi. While turning at Pan-Debiring intersection towards Karzok, going to Tso Moriri, from the Leh-Manali Highway, they were stopped by a group of four people, sitting around a desk, who asked them to pay a fine of INR 15000.00 as Ladakhi Taxi Union tax to step away from Manli-Leh highway. They paid. After driving for several kilometers they were stopped again by a group claiming themselves to be “Ladakhi taxi union Police” they had one SUV type old vehicle with them. They said no out of state vehicles are allowed in Ladakh by law, and so either the tourists will have to pay INR 50000, or rent their car and give the car that the tourists were driving to them which they will take and keep with them till the tourists leave Ladakh or turn back and leave for Manali after paying the fine. They took photo of the vehicle and said if they catch the vehicle moving anywhere inside Ladakh the vehicle and the passengers will be burnt. The terrified tourists contributed among themselves some notes in INR and some in USD and paid the equivalent of INR50000 and simply fled back to Manali and left the country well before their planned date. And this is not an exception there are scores of such reports against which the police are reluctant to register any FIR. Thanks to the Ladakhis, this excellent extortion technique is working very well. The word is going around. Soon there will be no international tourists there and slowly all the national tourist will also go away. Ladakh for Ladakhis ONLY. Ladakhis should understand that Ladakh is not any exception, there are several such destinations accross the world including Pakistan, China, Central Asia and south America that can rival or be better than Ladakh, and where the Government is effective to provide security and safety to the tourists and apply the law of the land. But as usual the Government of India, is busy collecting votes by SAB KA VISHWAS.

Reply
Vargis.Khan April 26, 2022 - 8:27 am

I agree Jessi that this is not the first such incident. Self-rented taxis from outside of Ladakh have been banned there for the last 7-8 years.

Reply
Piyush sharma October 29, 2020 - 4:38 pm

Hi vargis sir.
I have a trip planned from delhi to leh via manali, in last week of November this year by own car, swift. Is it feasible? Are there any important or major impact of Corona as well as Atal Tunnel since this time was previously off season till last year.
Just wanted to know current scenario, mainly between manali and leh.

Reply
Vicky Bansal November 27, 2019 - 6:57 pm

Thank you vargis sir i m looking for this type of info for last 30 days ….you don’t know how much your info will help me out for going LADAKH but your AMS Blog scare me for going LADAKH but it’s my dream also so will go definitely once one thing please clarify me I feel short breath problem in Delhi while pollution time like near Diwali so please advise me what should I precaution what should I carry for sever conditions…

Reply
Vargis.Khan November 28, 2019 - 2:50 pm

Vicky Bhai consult a doctor please. You must do it. A friend of mine died in Ladakh in September and he was suffering from Asthma. So if you do have a short breath problem, then talk to a doctor before you go.

Reply
Aravind MJ June 4, 2019 - 1:37 pm

Vagis Bhai, by following your 15 day itinerary once we leave Diskit on day 7 there is no fuel pumps after that. Where do you think I should tank up after that? tank – 60L and expected mileage – 12 km/L . Is diesel as readily available as petrol?
D7 Diskit-Turtuk
D8 Turtuk – Panamik
D9 Panamik – Pangong
D10 Pangong – Hanle
D11 Hanle – Karzok
D12 Karzok – Keylong

Reply
Sasi kalyan April 21, 2019 - 11:16 am

Hi Vargis,

We are 5 planning for Ladhak Trip this June 2019 on bike.

Delhi-Srinagar-Leh
Leh-Nubra-Pangong-Leh
Leh-Nyoma-Hanle-Tso Morori-Jispa-Manali
Manali-Delhi

This our plan of trip.
In which all places is Mechanic for bikes are available?

Do we really need to learn doing puncture on our own?

What do you suggest, our bikes are all Tube Types. Enfield Classic 350, Avenger 220.

Please help with some info.

Reply
Vargis.Khan April 21, 2019 - 5:55 pm

Hi Sasi – You should learn how to take the tire out, change the tube and put it back in. Carry a couple of spare tubes for every bike and a foot pump. Mechanics are still sparse in the area

Reply
Abhijit Beke August 25, 2018 - 2:54 pm

Thanks vargis ji .. so neatly and perfectly written information. We are coming to leh on 4th sept. You boosted our spirit. you helped us to plan more accurately.thanks again.

Reply
Gatt July 27, 2018 - 6:42 am

Hi Vargis. Firstly thanks for your valuable information on these adventure routes.

I have got 10lts of spare Petrol after my trip at Manali.
Can I trade it off.

Reply
Vargis.Khan July 27, 2018 - 12:37 pm

Hi Gatt – I am not really sure to be honest. You can try talking to the mechanics at Manali, they can buy it at a lesser price.

Reply
manas July 16, 2018 - 2:04 pm

Vargis ji we would be going from leh – nubra – pangong – tsomori -leh(via tsokar) will one full tank(50 ltr) be enough or should we stock up on fuel in black at pangong lake ?

Reply
Vargis.Khan July 16, 2018 - 5:58 pm

Hi Manas – You should definitely tank up at Pangong.

Reply
Saurabh June 4, 2018 - 7:20 am

How is the quality of the petrol which is sold in black at above mentioned places? Considering its a pretty tough and long journey, the black petrol shouldn’t affect the bike in any ways.

Reply
Ravinder Saini May 14, 2018 - 6:09 am

Thanks Khan Sahab… This will save us… Had one query though.. Will we be allowed to carry a 5 kg LPG cylinder with single burner on the trip to ladakh… We will be coming from Delhi…

Thanks in advance.

Reply
Vargis.Khan May 15, 2018 - 5:42 pm

Hi Ravinder Bhai, Do you mean carry it in your Car? For cooking purpose? Yes you can, lot of people do it.

Reply
Srinivasan Ganesh March 26, 2018 - 6:03 am

Thanks a lot vargis ji
Will be very helpful for travellers going from pangong -hanle-unmigla- karzok leh

Reply
Vargis.Khan March 26, 2018 - 3:46 pm

Thanks Srinivasan Bhai

Reply

Leave a Comment