10 lakh 5-kg FTL cylinders sold to students, vulnerable communities, since March 23: Centre

The Centre on Thursday said 5-kg free trade LPG (FTL) cylinders have been made available to students and vulnerable communities, including migrant labourers, with about 10 lakh sold in the country since March 23 and 1.06 lakh sold yesterday.

Addressing an inter-ministerial briefing in the national capital on the situation arising out of the conflict in West Asia, Sujata Sharma, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, said, “Around 3.97 lakh PNG connections have been activated, 4.3 lakh consumers registered, and over 18,000 LPG connections surrendered via the mypngd.in portal.”

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“On 08.04.2026, more than 1.06 lakh 5 kg FTL cylinders were sold across the country against a daily average of 77000 in the month of February 2026,” Sharma said.

She further said that since 23 March 2026, about 10 lakh 5-kg Free Trade LPG cylinders have been sold to students and vulnerable communities including migrant labourers.

A three-member committee of executive directors from IOCL, HPCL, and BPCL is coordinating with state authorities and industry bodies to plan commercial LPG distribution, she said.

“About 99,796 MT of commercial LPG (equivalent to over 52.5 lakh 19-kg cylinders) has been sold since 14 March 2026. Yesterday, 6711 MT of Commercial LPG (Equivalent to more than 3.5 Lakh – 19 Kg cylinders) was sold,” she said.

Despite the ongoing geopolitical situation impacting global supply chains, the government reiterated that domestic LPG supply remains fully stable.

“Domestic consumers have been prioritised and supply for household use has been ensured at 100 per cent. There has been no dry-out reported at any LPG distributor,” she said.

“On 08.04.2026, more than 51.5 Lakh domestic LPG cylinders were delivered,” Sharma stated.

She said enforcement actions continue across the country to curb hoarding and black marketing of the LPG. Yesterday, more than 3300 raids were conducted, and about 600 cylinders were seized across the country, she said.

Till date, more than 1.16 Lakh raids have been conducted across the country, Sharma said.

“PSU Oil Marketing Companies have strengthened surprise inspections and issued over 1870 show-cause notices, imposed penalties on 189 LPG distributorships and suspended 53 distributorships,” she said.