Amid the US-Israel-Iran war, India faced a severe energy shortage. This led to panic among people, with waiting periods for LPG cylinder bookings increasing to 45 days. Those with large families were particularly hard hit. However, to provide significant relief, agencies have improved the supply of LPG cylinders, reducing waiting times for bookings.

What was the problem?
For the past several days, customers were experiencing significant delays in receiving LPG cylinders even after booking them. This led to panic buying, hoarding, and supply shortages, especially in smaller cities across India.

What is the government planning?
Recently, Sujata Sharma, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, said in a press conference that daily bookings are currently between 4.6 and 5 million. Deliveries are now returning to normal. On April 16, approximately 5 million refill cylinders were delivered to homes, indicating a steady move towards normalcy.

He said domestic LPG supplies remain stable, with no shortages reported at distributor centers. Approximately 98% of total demand is being met through online bookings, and verified deliveries
have increased to over 90% to prevent illegal supply.

Commercial LPG supplies have returned to around 70% of pre-crisis levels, thanks to special measures such as increased allocation of small cylinders for migrant workers and enhanced delivery campaigns by state-owned oil marketing companies.

He also said that since March 23, more than 1.641 million 5-kg LPG cylinders have been sold at market prices to people without domestic cooking gas connections. These include migrant workers, students, working professionals, and small businesses.

PC: News24online