Gujarat fulfilled its monthly LPG requirement of 68 lakh cylinders in March despite a surge in panic bookings fueled by rumors. Sanjib Kumar Behera, the state head of Indian Oil Corporation Ltd., stated that although LPG demand spiked with 75 lakh bookings, deliveries were not hindered. The state, with 1.27 crore active LPG connections, managed 88% of bookings and 85% of deliveries digitally.
Oil marketing companies in Gujarat, including Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited, and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited, operate 5,133 retail outlets with ample stocks of petrol and diesel. Behera assured the public that the queues witnessed in late March were a result of rumors, emphasizing that there was no actual shortage of fuel. Efforts are ongoing to clear backlogs, with recent figures showing 1.76 lakh LPG bookings on April 4 against a supply of 2.43 lakh cylinders.
Distribution of smaller 5-kg LPG cylinders was increased in industrial clusters like Surat, Ankleshwar, and Jamnagar to meet demand. Chetan Gandhi from the Food and Civil Supplies Department mentioned intensified monitoring to prevent hoarding and black marketing. The government has deployed personnel for daily monitoring and has received and acted upon over 11,300 complaints since March 5.
Gujarat has a high penetration of piped natural gas (PNG) at around 30%, encouraging domestic and commercial consumers to shift from LPG. Additionally, kerosene has been allocated as a supplementary fuel, distributed through designated petrol pump locations. Nitin Shukla from the Agriculture Department assured farmers of adequate agricultural inputs for the upcoming Kharif season, with seeds and fertilizers available in sufficient quantities.
