'No Need For Panic Booking': Government On Report Of LPG shortage

New Delhi: The Centre on Wednesday categorically stated that the delivery of domestic supply of LPG takes around two and a half days and called upon people not to go for panic booking.

Addressing an Inter-Ministerial Briefing on recent developments in West Asia on Wednesday, Sujata Sharma, joint secretary, Petroleum and Natural Gas, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, said, "As on today, we import about 60 per cent of our requirement of our LPG and 90 per cent of this is through Straight of Hormuz. The government has taken various steps to deal with this situation."

She said the Government of India has issued an order on March 8, through which refineries and petrochemical complexes to maximise the LPG production.

"Because of these initiatives, our domestic LPG production has increased by 25 per cent. All these domestic LPG is being directed towards household consumers," Sharma said.

For non-domestic LPG, she said priority is given to essential sectors such as hospitals and educational institutions. "A three-member committee of executive directors of Oil Marketing Companies- IOCL, HPCL and BPCL has been constituted to review the allocation to restaurants, hotels and other commercial users. The committee is consulting with state authorities and industry bodies to finalise a plan to ensure that available LPG is distributed in a fair and a transparent manner," Sharma said.

On report of panic booking, she said, "Feedback suggests that some panic booking and hoarding behaviour has been triggered by misinformation. Our normal cycle for the delivery of domestic LPG remains around two and a half days. There is no need for the customer to rush to book the cylinder. So, there is no need for panic booking."

To prevent diversion at the distributor level, she said an authentic delivery system is implemented. As a temporary demand management measure, the minimum gap between LPG bookings has been increased from 21 days to 25 days, she added.

Sharma further added, "Even today, LPG prices remain lower in India than in many neighbouring countries." Giving update on maritime security, Rajesh Kumar Sinha, Special Secretary, Ministry of Shiping, Port and Waterways while giving an update on maritime security said, "Overall port operations in India are stable. The government is fully committed to protecting the interests of the seafarer."

Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, while briefing about the situation in West Asia, said, "The welfare of the diaspora is of utmost priority of the Government of India."

"We have set up a 24x7 control room in the Ministry of External Affairs to assist our nationals (in West Asia)," he added

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