Commerical LPG Sales Start In 29 States, UTs

New Delhi: Amid concerns over fuel supply due to the widening conflicts in West Asia, the government on Saturday said that LPG availability remains a concern in some areas, but there has been no “dry out” reported at retail stations across the country. Commercial LPG cylinder distribution has begun in 29 states and Union Territories, while authorities have stepped up raids and surprise inspections across the country to curb hoarding and black-marketing amid heightened pressure on cooking gas supplies, a senior oil ministry official said on Saturday. However, the government has conceded the fact that there's a sharp uptick in "panic booking of LPG cylinders in a fear of shortage across the country.

Briefing the media as part of the measures initiated by the government, joint secretary (marketing and oil refinery) at the ministry of petroleum and natural gas, Sujata Sharma, said that India has sufficient crude oil supplies and that refineries across the country are operating at full capacity, with no reports of fuel shortages at retail outlets. "There is an excessive amount of panic booking for LPG. Please book only when you actually need it. As nearly 8.8 million, or 88 lakh, panic bookings have been observed. Pre-war, daily bookings totalled around 55 lakh and oil marketing companies delivered 50 lakh cylinders per day. While the cylinder deliveries remain the same, bookings have surged. She also clarified that booking restrictions are linked to the time gap between two deliveries," Sharma said.

India imports 88 per cent of its crude oil needs, 50 per cent of its natural gas requirement and 60 per cent of its LPG demand.

“In urban areas, there is a minimum gap of 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 take place,” she said.

To ease supply pressure, the government has ramped up domestic LPG production.

“The first day we informed you about a 10 per cent increase in domestic production, then 25 per cent, then 28 per cent, and today the increase has reached 31 per cent,” she said.

"As far as crude oil and refineries are concerned, we have a sufficient supply of crude and our refineries are operating at full capacity. There have been no reports of any dry-out at retail outlets. Adequate petrol and diesel are available, while domestic production has gone up 31 per cent as of today, and it is meeting the country's needs. But there is still a concern for panic booking which is still happening on a very large scale. Yesterday, we informed you that the number of bookings was around 7.5-7.6 million, and now that number has increased to almost 8.8 million. So this is nothing but a panic booking," Sharma said, appealing to the public to avoid unnecessary bookings.

On the shifting to piped natural gas (PNG), the official also said that the government is encouraging commercial consumers facing disruptions in LPG supply to shift to PNG connections across the country. "In this direction, the Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) held meetings with several CGD operators and advised them to provide immediate PNG connections to commercial consumers wherever possible," she said.

On the reported shortage of commercial LPG cylinders, Sharma further said that the government has decided to ensure supply to commercial consumers as well, following discussions with state governments. "Commercial cylinders have been placed at the disposal of state governments to prioritise consumers. Distribution of commercial cylinders has started in about 29 states and union territories, and consumers have received them," Sharma said.

On black marketing of LPG cylinders, Sharma also said that the government has also intensified enforcement actions to prevent black marketing and hoarding of LPG cylinders. "Raids are being conducted continuously, and surprise inspections are being carried out on an ongoing basis to curb black marketing and hoarding," Sharma said, adding that inspection teams of the state-run oil marketing companies have been activated, with around 1,300 surprise inspections carried out at LPG distributorships and retail outlets on Friday alone.

Sharma highlighted that there are several states where joint teams comprising state officials and oil marketing companies have been formed and these teams have also conducted inspections and raids. "For instance, in Maharashtra and Rajasthan, joint teams carried out surprise inspections and raids. Furthermore, in Uttar Pradesh as well, surprise inspections were conducted at approximately 1,400 locations. Similarly, raids have also been conducted in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, and Karnataka," she said, adding that strict action has been taken in several cases with around 20 FIRs being registered and several individuals have been taken into custody.

She also said additional measures have been taken to support businesses facing fuel supply challenges in the National Capital Region (NCR). "We apprised you yesterday of several measures undertaken in this regard; continuing in this sequence, the Commission for Air Quality Management has issued a new order permitting the temporary use of biomass-derived pellets--specifically Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) pellets--as a substitute for natural gas by industries, hotels, restaurants, and other enterprises within the NCR region for a period of one month," she added.