LPG crisis: Hotels, restaurants will be allowed to use kerosene and coal, booking of cylinders in rural areas at an interval of 45 days

New Delhi, 13 March. The government has started the process of allowing the use of kerosene and coal as fuel in hotels and restaurants to reduce the pressure on cylinder and pipe supplied LPG in view of the circumstances created by the West Asia crisis. Apart from this, a limited number of cylinders for commercial use will also be supplied for which the state governments will have to prepare a list of beneficiaries on priority basis. In another important decision on Thursday, the government said that booking of LPG cylinders in rural areas can be done only at an interval of 45 days. Earlier this period was increased to 25 days for urban areas.

It was told by the government that till now one lakh 30 thousand Indians have returned home from West Asian countries and flights are being operated from various countries. There were 78 Indian sailors on board ships from different countries stranded in the affected areas, out of which 70 have been rescued safely while four are injured and unfortunately three have died while one is missing. The government has said that in this ongoing conflict in West Asia, more than 20 Indians living there have been injured, most of whom have returned home after treatment while the condition of one or two is critical. Senior officials of various ministries, addressing a press conference here on the situation in West Asia, said that the government is continuously monitoring the situation and taking appropriate steps to deal with any situation. He said that the supply of gas and petrol diesel in the country is continuous and there is no report of any shortage of these substances from any part of the country. People should hurry up in booking the cylinders and do not pay attention to rumours.

Sujata Sharma, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, said, “We have about 25,000 distributors across the country and we supply about 50 lakh cylinders every day. There is no report of gas running out anywhere even at the distribution level, but bookings have increased manifold due to panic. We urge citizens not to book in panic and save fuel wherever possible in this period of global uncertainty.” Efforts are also being made to make fuels available to consumers, so that the pressure on LPG and gas can be reduced. He said, “An order has been issued today under which additional 48,000 kiloliters of kerosene will be given to the states. Here also the role of state governments will be important in identification and distribution of beneficiaries.”

Sharma said the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has also advised state pollution control boards to allow the use of alternative fuels—such as biomass, RDF pellets, kerosene or coal—in the hospitality and restaurant sectors for a month during this crisis period, so that more institutions can use them and LPG can be available to primary consumers. He said that apart from this, the Coal Ministry has also issued a letter yesterday, in which Coal India Limited and Singareni have been directed to allocate more quantity of coal to the states, so that it can be supplied to small, medium and other consumers.

The Joint Secretary said that hospitals and educational institutions are being given priority in the use of commercial cylinders. For the remaining consumers, a three-member committee of executive directors of oil marketing companies has been formed, after whose review an important decision has been taken that some commercial cylinders will also be released. He said that the role of state governments will be very important in this. State governments, through oil marketing companies, have been asked to prepare a list of beneficiaries so that commercial cylinders can be supplied on priority basis. It also aims to prevent hoarding and black marketing.