New Delhi: Sujata Sharma, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, on Monday updated that about 40% of crude, 90% of LPG, and nearly 65% of India's natural gas imports have been affected amid the ongoing West Asia crisis.
Sharma's remarks highlight growing concerns over supply disruptions and rising energy security challenges for the country.
However, Sharma added that the government is making every effort to ensure a smooth domestic supply of petroleum products.
"Refinery LPG production has been increased and is now reaching around 50,000 tonnes per day," she added.
She added that about 7.99 lakh PNG connections have been gasified.
"About 2.87 lakh connections are ready for gas supply as infrastructure has already been created, and more than 8.27 lakh customers have registered for PNG connections. For domestic LPG cooking gas supply, about 1.72 crore cylinders have been delivered in the last four days against bookings of 1.66 crore, with 95% of deliveries completed with authentication codes. Distributors also operated on Sunday, and LPG cylinders were delivered on that day as well," she added.
READ: Fuel shock continues: Petrol, diesel prices hiked again; 4th increase in 2 weeks
Sharma further added, "I would like to appeal to citizens that LPG, petrol, and diesel supplies are sufficient. Please avoid panic buying and purchase fuel only as per requirement. Where possible, conserve energy and shift to alternative sources such as PNG, induction cooking, or electric cooktops."
Speaking at the same press conference, Randhir Jaiswal, Spokesperson, Ministry of External Affairs said, "The Prime Minister paid a highly successful visit to the UAE on 15th of May. Several key agreements were signed during the visit which have given a boost to India's energy security, in particular on supplies of LPG as also strengthening our strategic petroleum reserve. There were agreements on flow of fresh investments from UAE into India."
The position of fertilizers in the country remains comfortable against the assessment of 390.54 lakh metric tons for this year. The current stock stands at 200.12 lakh metric tons, which is more than 51% and significantly higher than the usual level of 33%.
READ: ‘Shock is coming’: Uday Kotak warning goes viral after gold duty hike
Aparna S. Sharma, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Chemical & Fertilizers updated the status of fertilisers and said that the domestic production and fertilizer imports after the crisis have been substantial.
Total domestic production has been about 95 lakh metric tons, and around 22.60 lakh metric tons of imports have reached our shores. In total, 117.6 lakh metric tons of fertilizer has been added to the overall availability.
The country has also secured 13.5 lakh metric tons of DAP and 9 lakh metric tons of NPK complexes, which will ensure adequate availability during the peak kharif season, she added.
Ends.
Comments (0)
Be the first to comment!