A top official said on Monday that more than 39,000 people who use piped natural gas (PNG) have turned off their LPG lines after the government asked them to. This was done because of worries about the LPG supply during the current crisis in West Asia.
The latest information was given by Sujata Sharma, Joint Secretary (Marketing & Oil Refinery) at the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. She did this during a meeting of ministers to talk about recent events in West Asia. She said that the government had asked people who have both PNG and LPG connections to give up their LPG connections so that there would be more PNG connections. “Since March, about 4,93,000 new PNG connections have been installed and around 5,51,000 new consumers have been registered,” she stated.
Steps taken by the government to ensure supply
Concerned about supply problems, she said that the West Asia situation had harmed LPG supplies, but the government had taken many steps to make sure that management was good. Some of these are making more LPG in the United States, letting people book longer in both cities and rural areas, and using delivery authentication numbers (DAC) to stop people from stealing LPG. She pointed out that the government had set a goal of implementing DAC 90% of the time, which has now been achieved, hitting 92%. “Due to all these measures, domestic LPG supply is running normally and no dry-out has been reported anywhere,” she stated.
1. Status of LPG supplies for businesses and cars
At first, industrial LPG supplies were affected, but Sharma said that about 70% of supplies are now back up and running. About 7,000 tonnes of industrial LPG have been sold every day for the past five days. Auto LPG use has also gone up; sales have been around 350 tonnes per day for the past week, up from about 177 tonnes per day in February.
2. More 5 kg cylinders are now available
She also said that the government has made it easier to get 5 kg LPG tanks. Since April 3, about 7,000 information camps have been held, which have led to the sale of about 1 lakh 5 kg tanks. About 3,360 bottles were sold across about 220 camps on Sunday alone. About 18,45,000 of these bottles have been sold since March 23.
3. Setting priorities for the PNG and CNG sectors
Sharma said that the domestic PNG and CNG transport sectors are being given priority when it comes to natural gas production, which will ensure a 100% supply. States that help PNG expand their networks are getting an extra 10% of commercial LPG. Currently, this benefit is going to about 22 states and Union Territories.
4. More fuel supplies and stricter rules
She also said that the fuel flow at gas stations is still normal and that there have been no reports of dry-outs. She also said that plants are running at full capacity.
5. Follow-through and punishments
Sharma talked about enforcement steps and said that recently there were about 1,900 raids. About 267 LPG dealers were fined and 67 were banned.
People were told not to accept the lies because there is enough fuel in the country according to her.
Read also: Superblu” ethanol flame is cheaper than LPG
PNG links go up a lot
The change comes as PNG’s infrastructure keeps getting better. Nearly 4.9 lakh new PNG lines have been set up since March of this year, and over 5.5 lakh new customers have signed up. Since this rise happened, people in cities with PNG networks are relying less on LPG tanks. The supply of LPG is under pressure but steady.
The government admitted that the situation in West Asia caused problems with the flow of LPG at first. But a number of steps have helped keep supply stable. Some of these are making more LPG in the United States, letting people book earlier in both cities and rural areas, and using delivery authentication codes (DAC) to stop people from stealing LPG.
Officials said that DAC adoption has now reached 92%, which is more than the original goal.
Read also: Government Pushes Major Shift to PNG as LPG Supply Hit by Hormuz Crisis
Reports of no big shortages
The government said there have been no reports of LPG shortages or “dry-outs” across the country, even though there were worries. At first, industrial LPG sources were cut off, but now about 70% of them are back online, and daily sales have reached around 7,000 tonnes in recent days.
Demand trends point to a comeback
Auto LPG use has also gone up; daily sales have reached about 350 tonnes, which is almost twice as much as they were in February. The government has also used efforts to get people to use 5 kg type tanks. Over a lakh cylinders have been sold at over 7,000 camps since the beginning of April.
Read also: Commercial LPG allocation hiked to 50%
The fuel source stays the same
Officials stressed that the supply of fuel in all areas remains stable. Priority is being given to PNG and CNG sources, which will ensure that homes and vehicles can always get what they need.
Pumps for petrol all over the country are working normally, and factories are working at full capacity.
A versatile writer mainly works on trending news, daily updates from politics, business, crime, current affairs and entertainment.
