No LPG distributor facing dry-out; domestic supplies continue as usual: Centre

The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas on Thursday emphasised that no liquefied petroleum gas LPG distributor in the country is currently facing a dryout situation with domestic supplies and cylinder deliveries continuing as scheduledSpeaking at an interministerial briefing on recent developments in West Asia Sujata Sharma Joint Secretary Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas said that while the overall regional situation remains a matter of concern domestic consumer services continue to remain stable and uninterruptedOn the issue of LPG I would like to reiterate that the situation still remains a matter of concern However no LPG distributor is facing a dryout situation at presenthellip LPG supplies and cylinder deliveries for all domestic consumers are continuing as usual Sharma saidCrude supply is adequate and refineries are operating at full capacity Petrol pumps are functioning normally with no dry outs reported PNG and CNG supplies continue at 100 percent Commercial LPG users are being encouraged to shift to PNG through CGD companies with incentiveshellip pictwittercomkKubLPHXzvmdash PIB India PIB_India March 19 2026The ministry highlighted significant progress in digital transitions reporting that nearly 94 per cent of cylinder bookings are now being made online while the delivery authentication code system has reached 76 per cent efficiency news agency ANI reportedOn commercial operations Sharma said that supplies were initially completely halted but have since been partially restoredIn the context of commercial LPG allocation orders have been issued by about 17 state governments and commercial LPG supplies have been provided to all states and union territories she notedLPG shortage concerns Centre asks states to extend cooperation in expansion of PNG networksTo further stabilise the market the Central government has proposed providing 10 per cent additional commercial LPG and urged state governments to cooperate in expanding piped natural gas PNG networks These initiatives have resulted in around 125 lakh new domestic commercial and industrial connections over the past two weeks ANI reportedThe Government of India has asked all state governments to extend cooperation in the expansion of PNG networks and has proposed providing 1037 additional commercial LPG Due to all these initiatives and efforts around 125 lakh new domestic commercial and industrial connections have been provided in the last two weeks Sharma addedThe ministry also confirmed a growing shift towards alternative fuels noting that in the last three days more than 5600 domestic LPG users shifted to PNG connectionsSharma emphasised that the government is making every possible effort at all levels to ensure LPG is available to domestic consumers and urged the public to rely only on official information to prevent panicThe Centre has recently directed state governments to take strict action against black marketing and hoarding Sharma said that control rooms have been established in around 31 states and Union Territories with districtlevel monitoring committees active in about 25 regions Several states have already conducted raids filed first information reports FIRs and made arrests related to black marketingI request all consumers please do online booking and wait for your turn there is no need to visit gas agencies unnecessarily she said adding that while panic booking has decreased queues are still being seen at some distributorsPeople should not pay attention to rumours and should rely only on official information Panic booking has decreased but queues are still being seen at distributors Hence I request all consumers to book refills online Sharma concludedWith ANI inputs