New Delhi, March 17: With the LPG supply squeeze impacting hotels, businesses and household consumers through longer waiting periods and panic bookings, the Centre has asked states to expedite approvals for piped gas projects to enable faster rollout and ease pressure on cooking gas availability.
As the war in West Asia, which blocked India’s access to almost 60 per cent of its LPG, continues with no end in sight, the government is now pushing for the use of alternative cooking mediums like induction cookers.
“Situation remains a matter of concern, but we are providing supplies as before to the domestic consumers,” said Sujata Sharma, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.
This was made possible as refineries were asked to ramp up domestic output, which was then prioritised for household kitchens. Commercial use of LPG, such as in hotels and restaurants, was initially curtailed, but later restored to a fifth of their normal offtake.
“We have to look at alternatives,” she said at a media briefing.
Giving statistics, she said panic bookings for a refill LPG cylinder peaked to 87.7 lakh on March 13, but have since eased, with about 70 lakh bookings being done on Monday. This compares to about 55 lakh bookings in pre-war days.
LPG deliveries have kept pace. “We delivered 62.5 lakh cylinders on March 13, 60 lakh on March 14… this compares to 50 lakh deliveries in pre-conflict times”, she said. There is still panic booking happening despite assurances that there are enough LPG supplies to meet household needs, she said, adding that domestic production of LPG has increased by 38 per cent compared to March 5 levels. To ease pressure on LPG, the government is promoting commercial and household LPG users to switch to piped natural gas. City gas companies are offering incentives and faster connections. (IANS)
