The government has stated that domestic LPG distribution across the country is normal and no dry-out has been reported at any LPG distributors. During the Inter-ministerial media briefing in New Delhi, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Sujata Sharma informed that amidst West Asia crisis, the government is making all efforts to ensure hundred percent supply of domestic LPG to the consumers for cooking and up to 70 percent to consumers of commercial cylinders. Ms Sharma said that online LPG cylinder bookings increased to 99 percent on industry basis yesterday and around 87.28 Lakh LPG cylinders were delivered against bookings of around 88.82 lakh LPG cylinders during the last two days. She also informed that about 95 per cent of deliveries of LPG cylinders are being done through authentication code. With regard to natural gas, the Joint Secretary informed that about 6 lakh 31 thousand new PNG connections have been gasified and infrastructure has also been created for an additional 2.67 lakh connections. She said, so far six lakh 93 consumers are registred for PNG connections. She added that more than 49 thousand PNG consumers have voluntarily surrendered their LPG connections. The Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry mentioned that the total number of 5 Kg FTL cylinders sold during the past two days were around 1.2 Lakh. It added that the enforcement actions to curb hoarding and black marketing of LPG is continuing across the country and yesterday, more than 2 thousand one hundred raids were conducted across the country. Ms Sharma also informed that operations and retail outlets are normal.
Director in the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Opesh Kumar Sharma, has said that all Indian seafarers continue to remain safe in the region, with no incidents involving Indian-flagged vessels reported in the past 48 hours. He added that no incidents have also been reported on any foreign-flagged vessels carrying Indian seafarers. Mr Sharma informed that the control centre set up at the Directorate General of Shipping has handled 8 thousand 570 calls and more than 18 thousand 732 emails so far. He further stated that the Ministry, through the Directorate General of Shipping, has facilitated the safe repatriation of more than 2 thousand 999 seafarers, including 23 in the last 48 hours, from various locations across the Gulf region. He also noted that port operations across India remain normal, with no congestion reported.
The Dedicated special control room in the Ministry of External Affairs is also operational to respond to queries from Indian nationals and their families. Government assured that the overall flight situation is improving with additional flights operating from the region to various destinations in India. Further, the Indian Embassy in Tehran facilitated movement of 2 thousand 520 Indian nationals out of Iran through land border routes. The Ministry noted that it continues to monitor developments in the Gulf and West Asia region, with focused efforts on ensuring safety, security and welfare of the Indian community in the region
