The government on Tuesday reiterated that adequate stocks of petrol and diesel are available at all 100,000 petrol pumps across the country and 1.1 million migrant workers with gas connections under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana are getting fuel on priority along with another 105.6 million Ujjwala beneficiaries.
Giving an update on the fuel supply situation, Sujata Sharma, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Petroleum, said that while all petrol pumps in the country are adequately stocked with auto fuel, the availability of LPG to priority consumers is being ensured by increasing its production in refineries at the expense of petrochemical production so that priority customers do not suffer.
India is the fourth largest refining center in the world with a refining capacity of more than 258 million tons per year. By changing the refining configuration, refineries can increase the production of any given product to some extent. Apart from domestic LPG, India also imports LPG from various sources to meet domestic demand. India imports 60% of its liquefied petroleum gas needs.
Briefing on the movements of LPG cargoes from West Asia, Special Secretary (Shipping) Rajesh Kumar Sinha said that the tankers Pine Gas (carrying 45,000 metric tons of LPG) and Jag Vasant (about 47,600 metric tons) transited the Strait of Hormuz late on Monday evening. While the former will arrive at New Mangalore port on March 27, the latter is expected to arrive at Kandla port on March 26. Five more loaded tankers (with 2.3 lakh metric tons of LPG), one in the process of loading, are expected to start from the west of the Strait to India soon.
In order to reduce the burden on LPG supplies, the government is promoting the use of piped natural gas (PNG). The Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) on Monday issued an order directing all city gas distribution (CGD) companies to provide PNG connections in residential schools, colleges, hostels, community kitchens and Anganwadi kitchens located near pipeline infrastructure, Sharma said. There are more than 330 million domestic LPG connections in the country.
She said there are 6 million households where PNG connections can be provided immediately and they have been asked to avail the facility. “Yesterday, in just one day, about 7,500 local and business connections were provided to these people in the top 110 geographic regions,” she added.
“LPG supplies have been affected due to the prevailing geopolitical situations, but a lot of cargoes have been lined up, and no drought has been reported at LPG distributors. Although yesterday we also saw some panic bookings, deliveries are normal,” she said.
Giving details of commercial LPG supplies, she said the government on March 21 raised the supply of LPG to commercial consumers to about 50% of their total requirement. According to it, the preferential offer is allocated to restaurants, dhabas, hotels, industrial canteens, food processing industries, dairy products, subsidized canteens and kitchens run by state governments, local bodies and local communities for the poor and migrants.
Under the Ojwala regime, about 1.1 million migrant workers have already received LPG connections, and in the last few months, about 73,000 connections have been provided to them. Yesterday, more than 25,000 connections of 5 kg LPG were also delivered, she said, adding that these supplies are being secured by state-run Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) in coordination with state governments. Orders have been issued from 24 states and union territories (UTs) for commercial LPG distribution. Elsewhere, state-run oil and gas companies themselves distribute LPG. About 18,700 tons of commercial LPG have been transported so far.
