In order to tackle any future crunch in LPG, the central government has instructed Oil Manufacturing Companies to come up with a plan that allows them to have LPG reserves that can last a minimum of 30 days.
"The Oil Marketing Companies have been asked to work out a plan so that the reserve for LPG should be a minimum of 30 days with them, and they are working on it," stated Sujata Sharma, Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Petroleum during a press briefing on Friday. She added that similar strategic reserve plans for crude oil are also underway.
Addressing concerns related to the LPG backlog, she informed that ithas now come down to a range of 4 and a half days, adding, "oil marketing Companies are also regularly in touch with the state governments. Information regarding which districts are seeing how much sales and where it is higher is being provided to them from time to time," she said.
The government has prioritised LPG supplies for domestic households amid disruptions caused by the prevailing geopolitical situation, while also imposing curbs on commercial LPG allocation to ensure uninterrupted availability for consumers.
According to official data, no “dry-outs” — a situation where distributors run out of LPG stock — have been reported at LPG distributorships despite supply pressures.
Online LPG cylinder bookings rose to nearly 99% on an industry-wide basis on Thursday, reflecting stable availability and fulfilment, the government said.
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To prevent diversion and ensure cylinders reach genuine consumers, Delivery Authentication Code (DAC)-based deliveries have also increased significantly, touching around 96%.
The DAC system requires consumers to share a one-time code received on their registered mobile number at the time of cylinder delivery.
Over the last four days, around 1.80 crore domestic LPG cylinders were delivered against bookings of approximately 1.78 crore cylinders, indicating that deliveries exceeded fresh booking volumes during the period.
As part of supply management measures, the government has decided to restrict commercial LPG allocation to 70% of pre-crisis levels. This includes a 10% reform-based allocation component.
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