NEW DELHI: Commercial distribution of LPG cylinders has begun in 29 states and union territories, while authorities have intensified raids and surprise inspections across the country to curb hoarding and black marketing amid mounting pressure on cooking gas supplies, a senior petroleum ministry official said on Saturday.
Panic booking continues to rise despite there being sufficient stock to meet domestic domestic needs of cooking gas and LPG, said Sujata Sharma, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.
She added that India has sufficient reserves of crude oil, and local refineries are operating at full capacity, ensuring availability of enough petrol and diesel across the country.
“There are no reports of any retail outlets running out of fuel. Our refineries are running at full capacity, and there is enough petrol and diesel available. Based on our requirements, we produce enough petrol and diesel locally and do not need to import,” she said.
Sharma said that domestic LPG supplies are being given priority even as the government continues to closely monitor the situation amid the prevailing geopolitical developments that have hampered energy supplies from Gulf countries.
India imports 88 percent of its crude oil needs, 50 percent of its natural gas needs, and 60 percent of its liquefied petroleum gas needs.
Before the United States and Israel attacked Iran on February 28, and Tehran responded by striking US bases in neighboring countries as well as Israel, more than half of its crude oil needs came from Middle Eastern countries, 30% of gas from the region, and 85-90% from liquefied petroleum gas.
The war led to the virtual closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the usual maritime transit point for energy from the Gulf states. While India has been able to source crude oil from other countries, including Russia, the pressure on gas supplies has led to disruption to industrial users and commercial establishments such as hotels and restaurants.
“The situation concerns us all, but we are working to ensure that household consumers do not face any inconvenience. Domestic consumers have been given priority, and supplies of LPG cylinders are being ensured to them,” she said.
However, LPG refill bookings rose sharply due to panic buying by consumers.
“Yesterday, the number of bookings was around 75,000 and now it has risen to around 88,000. This is nothing but panic booking,” the official said, urging consumers to book cylinders only when needed.
Before the war, daily bookings totaled about 55,000, and oil marketing companies were delivering 50,000 cylinders a day. While cylinder deliveries have remained the same, bookings have gone up.
She also explained that the booking restrictions are related to the time gap between two deliveries.
“In urban areas, there is a gap of at least 25 days between the last delivery and the next booking, while in rural areas the gap is 45 days. If consumers try to book before this window, the booking will not get done,” she said.
To ease supply pressure, the government has increased domestic LPG production.
She said, “On the first day, we informed you of an increase in local production by 10 percent, then 25 percent, then 28 percent, and today the increase has reached 31 percent.”
State-run GAIL met gas distribution operators in the city and asked them to provide pipelined natural gas connections to commercial consumers facing LPG supply constraints, the official added.
Consumers who can easily switch from LPG to PNG are encouraged – both domestic and commercial, she said.
Sharma also said that commercial LPG cylinders have been made available to state governments to prioritize distribution among consumers.
She added that the distribution of commercial cylinders has already begun in about 29 states and union territories.
As part of supply management measures, the Air Quality Management Committee has permitted temporary use of biomass and RDF pellets in place of natural gas and LPG by industries, hotels, restaurants and other establishments in the National Capital Region, including Delhi, for a period of one month.
PNG’s domestic supplies and CNG for vehicles will continue to receive 100 per cent allocation without any reductions, the official said.
State governments and local administrations have been asked to closely monitor the LPG supply situation and ensure smooth distribution, she said, adding that several chief ministers and senior officials have already held review meetings in states like Haryana, Goa, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
The authorities also intensified law enforcement to reduce hoarding and black marketing, as states carried out raids and surprise inspections in coordination with oil marketing companies.
Joint teams in Maharashtra and Rajasthan conducted inspections, while authorities in Uttar Pradesh conducted surprise inspections at about 1,400 locations.
“As many as 20 FIRs have been registered in Uttar Pradesh and prosecution has been initiated against 19 people,” she said, adding that raids were also carried out in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha and Karnataka.
OMCs also activated their inspection teams and conducted around 1,300 surprise inspections at LPG distributors and retail outlets in a single day.
The government has also asked oil and gas companies to launch a campaign to promote digital booking of LPG refills and spread awareness to prevent panic buying.
Consumers have been urged to use digital tools like SMS, WhatsApp and OMCs’ mobile apps to refill bookings instead of visiting LPG distributors.
“There is no need to stand in queues at distributors to reserve or deliver cylinders. OMCs are delivering cylinders to consumers’ homes and will continue to do so,” she said.
She added that while the situation remains dangerous, liquefied gas cylinders are available, and supplies are continuing. “There is no reason to panic. We urge consumers to rely only on information provided through official channels and resort to unnecessary panic.”
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