Government has said domestic LPG supply across the country is smooth and no dry out has been reported at any distributorship. Addressing an inter-ministerial briefing in New Delhi, Secretary in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas Sujata Sharma said that government’s effort has been to ensure that domestic consumers do not face any shortage of gas and that prices remain stable amid the evolving situation in West Asia.
She noted that over the last two days, around 57 lakh LPG cylinders were delivered to households against bookings of around 87 lakh. Ms Sharma underlined that Government has also increased the supplies of 5-kg cylinders, keeping migrant labourers in mind. She added that in the last two days, more than 1 lakh 11 thousand 5-kg cylinders have been sold. The Secretary further said that Commercial supply across the country has been restored to nearly 70 percent, and over the past two days, more than 15 thousand 4 hundred tonnes of commercial LPG have been sold.
Ms Sharma added that since March, more than 6 lakh PNG connections have been gasified, and in addition, infrastructure has been developed for more than 2 lakh 66 thousand new connections. She further assured that there is no shortage of petrol or diesel anywhere in the country and urged the public to avoid panic buying, as refineries are operating at optimum capacities and crude inventories are sufficient.
Director of the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Opesh Kumar Sharma said that Government continues to engage with every stakeholder to ensure the welfare of all Indian seafarers and uninterrupted maritime operations. He informed that Indian seafarers in the Gulf region are safe and no incident involving any Indian-flagged vessels has been reported in the past 24 hours.
Mr Kumar noted that DG Shipping control room has handled over 87 thousand 370 calls and more than 19 thousand emails since its activation. The Ministry has facilitated the safe repatriation of more than 3,190 Indian seafarers so far, including 20 in the last 24 hours. He added that port operations across the country are normal and no congestion has been reported.
Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, Randhir Jaiswal, said that the Government continues its outreach to countries in the Gulf. He informed us that Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri paid an official visit to UAE yesterday. Mr Jaiswal noted that earlier External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar and National security adviser Ajit Doval had also visited the UAE in that regard.
Additional Secretary (Gulf) in the Ministry of External Affairs, Assem R. Mahajan, said the Ministry continues to closely monitor developments in the West Asia region, with a focus on ensuring the safety, security, and welfare of the large Indian community there. Mr Mahajan added that the Ministry’s dedicated control room remains operational and is working in coordination with Indian missions to provide timely assistance and address queries.
He said the Ministry is in constant touch with state governments and Union Territories for information sharing. He said Indian missions are actively engaging with the Indian community and are regularly interacting with associations, organisations, professional groups, and Indian companies in the region.
He further added that the safety of Indian seafarers in the region is of high priority to the government. He underlined that Indian embassy in Tehran has facilitated the movement of 2 thousand 546 Indian nations out of Iran through land border routes. He noted that overall flight situations continue to improve with additional flight operations from the region to various destinations in India. Mr Maharan said that currently UAE airspace is open, and Indian and UAE carriers are operating flights.
