Apart from all measures, the government is encouraging consumers to shift from LPG to piped cooking gas or PNG as city gas distribution firms have already rolled out their incentives for them, according to a top oil ministry official
New Delhi: Despite having a difficult phase on the LPG supply due to the West Asia conflicts, the Centre on Monday assured the consumers again not to panic over LPG supplies and warned against hoarding and black marketing, saying that adequate measures are in place to ensure smooth distribution across the country. Apart from all measures, the government is encouraging consumers to shift from LPG to piped cooking gas or PNG as city gas distribution firms have already rolled out their incentives for them, according to a top oil ministry official.
Briefing the media during an inter-ministerial briefing, Sujata Sharma, joint secretary in the ministry of petroleum and natural gas, said that state governments and local administrations have been asked to closely monitor the situation and prevent irregularities in LPG distribution. “In the present situation, when we are facing a somewhat difficult phase regarding LPG supply, the role of state governments and local administrations becomes very important, particularly in preventing hoarding and black marketing,” she said.
Elaborating on incentives, Sharma said that leading CNG and PNG retailer Indraprastha Gas Ltd (IGL) is offering domestic consumers free gas worth Rs 500, if they take a PNG connection and start using it before March 31, while Mumbai-retailer Mahanagar Gas Ltd has announced incentives, including waiver of Rs 500 registration charge for domestic household consumers and Rs 1-5 lakh security deposit for commercial users.
“Similar promotional measures have also been introduced by Gail and BPCL to help the consumers in this regard. As the current situation is worrying, the government is supplying the LPG cylinders to our domestic consumers to meet all their requirements. There are no reports of dry-outs at any LPG distributorship,” the official said.
Further, she pointed out that LPG refill bookings have declined to about pre-war levels of 50-55 lakh on March 15 from about 77 lakh on Saturday and a peak of 88.8 lakh on March 13, but hastened to add that it remains to be seen if this was a permanent trend or a one-off decline primarily due to March 15 being a Sunday. “The share of online LPG bookings has risen to about 90 per cent from 87 per cent, with the government continuing to promise the use of digital modes of bookings rather than queuing up at LPG dealerships for panic purchases,” she said.
To ease pressure on LPG supplies, consumers are being encouraged to adopt piped natural gas (PNG). The sector regulator, Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB), has also advised city gas distribution (CGD) companies to deploy additional resources and step up outreach to provide connections to consumers wherever networks are available. “Consumers willing to shift to commercial PNG connections can contact CGD companies through e-mail, customer portals, letters or call centres," she said, adding that where pipelines already exist, connections can be provided in the shortest possible time.
State governments and local administrations have been asked to step up efforts to curb hoarding and black marketing. Control rooms have been set up in most states and raids are being conducted in several places, including Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Assam and Mizoram. “Oil marketing companies have also activated their teams and carried out surprise inspections at nearly 1,100 locations, including retail outlets and LPG distributorships,” she added.
