Reduced panic buying & steady supply drop LPG bookings by over 25 lakh, says Centre

New Delhi: Despite ongoing concerns and supply restrictions on commercial consumers, including hotels, domestic LPG supply remains normal across the country.

In a relief for oil marketing companies, domestic LPG cylinder bookings have fallen to 55 lakh per day on March 19, down from more than 80 lakh per day just a few days earlier.

"Panic booking is coming down. On March 19, around 55 lakh bookings were made," Sujata Sharma, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, told reporters here. The pre-war average daily bookings stood at 50–55 lakh.

However, she cautioned that "the LPG supply situation remains worrisome, though there is no dry-out at any LPG distributor." The government continues to prioritise the supply of available LPG to domestic households, she said.

Sharma noted that domestic LPG production has increased by over 40 per cent in the last two weeks, and the three public sector oil marketing companies have resumed normal, pre-war levels of daily LPG refill deliveries.

"LPG cylinder delivery continues to be normal," she said. Supplies to commercial establishments were initially halted but have since been partially restored to about one-fifth of their normal requirement.

In the last week, 11,300 tonnes of commercial LPG were supplied to such establishments across the country.

To curb black marketing and hoarding, raids and surprise inspections are continuing. As many as 4,500 raids were conducted on Friday, while oil companies carried out 1,800 surprise inspections of petrol pumps and LPG distributorships.

State governments have been asked to strengthen monitoring and enforcement efforts, she said.