Defence Minister Rajnath Singh led the fifth Informal Group of Ministers meeting to assess energy supply chain vulnerabilities and essential commodities availability following the West Asia conflict. Singh emphasized the government’s efforts, led by PM Modi, to ensure uninterrupted essential goods supply nationwide. He urged the public to stay calm, assuring concrete measures to avert shortages or disruptions in supply chains.
Retail prices for petrol and diesel have remained stable despite global oil price surges, with ample stocks available at all public sector oil company outlets like Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited, and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited nationwide. Refineries are operating at full capacity with sufficient crude inventories, maintaining ample stocks of petrol and diesel. Domestic Liquefied Petroleum Gas production has been boosted to meet local demand.
Public sector oil companies are distributing approximately 50 lakh domestic Liquefied Petroleum Gas cylinders daily to ensure regular cooking fuel supplies, with no reported shortages at retail outlets despite Middle East crisis disruptions. Online bookings for cooking gas have surged to 99%, with 95% of deliveries authenticated via consumer mobile numbers to prevent diversion at distributor levels.
Oil companies are also selling small 5 kg Liquefied Petroleum Gas cylinders for migrant laborers, organizing over 10,700 camps since April 3 to raise awareness about these cylinders. Around 6.5 lakh Piped Natural Gas connections have been established, with infrastructure in place for an additional 2.66 lakh connections, totaling 9.16 lakh connections. Enforcement actions are ongoing nationwide to combat Liquefied Petroleum Gas hoarding and black marketing, with over 2,000 daily raids conducted.
