No Shortage of Petrol, Diesel, Kerosene or LPG in the Country: Hardeep Singh Puri

New Delhi: Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Thursday said that there is no shortage of petrol, diesel, kerosene or LPG in the country, assuring that fuel availability remains stable, and supply chains are functioning smoothly as well. “India has adequate fuel stocks, and there is no cause for concern over availability. The government continues to closely monitor the global energy situation and will take necessary steps to ensure uninterrupted fuel availability across the country,” the minister said.

In line with the minister’s remarks on oil supply, oil ministry official sources also said that the government has allocated around 40,000 kilolitre of additional kerosene to states as an alternative fuel to LPG. “In the meanwhile, the government will release some commercial LPG cylinders to businesses and consumers beyond the priority sectors already identified but state governments will play a central role in determining who gets them,” a senior oil ministry official said.

While briefing the media at the inter-ministerial conference here, Sujata Sharma, joint secretary in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, also said that some more commercial LPG cylinders would be released to beneficiaries identified by state governments. “The crude oil supply situation in the country is comfortable and there has been no dry out at any of 1 lakh petrol pumps. India has approximately 25,000 LPG distributors across the country and delivers around 50 lakh cylinders daily. On the distribution side, no drought has been collected,” she said.

Earlier in the day, Puri was addressing in Parliament about the concerns around LPG availability, stating that domestic LPG supply remains fully protected, even amid global geopolitical tensions and disruptions in energy markets. “ However, the overall fuel supply position remains stable and comfortable, with inventories sufficient to meet demand across the country,” the minister said.

On black-marketing in the fuel supply, the ministry official also warned of hoarding to avoid inconvenience to the public in general. “The situation is challenging, and this is important because we want to avoid hoarding or black marketing. A three-member committee of executive directors from the three oil marketing companies — Indian Oil, HPCL and BPCL— had reviewed representations from commercial consumers and then taken the decision to release a limited quantity of commercial cylinders,” she said.