The government has also asked gas producers, importers and marketers to submit detailed data on production, imports, stocks, and supply as it closely monitors the energy situation.
Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas LPG PNG panic buying West Asia Strait of Hormuz
The Centre on Tuesday moved to protect gas supply for homes and vehicles as the West Asia conflict tightened pressure on fuel availability, issuing a control order that gives top priority to domestic piped gas, CNG, and LPG production.
The government’s move signals a clear pecking order as supply stress builds. Households and transport have been placed at the front of the queue, while fertiliser units, industries, refineries, and petrochemical players face cuts. News agency ANI, citing sources, said India was getting 30 per cent of its natural gas through the Hormuz route and is now buying gas through other channels to ease the shortfall.
Advertisement
Under the order, domestic piped natural gas, CNG for vehicles, LPG production and essential pipeline operations will continue to get full supply, based on the average consumption of the previous six months and subject to operational availability.
Advertisement
Supply to fertiliser plants has been set at 70 per cent of the previous six-month average. Tea units, manufacturing and other industrial consumers linked to the national gas grid will get 80 per cent. Industrial and commercial consumers supplied through city gas networks will also receive 80 per cent of their earlier average supply.
Refineries have been told to absorb part of the disruption by taking a reduction in gas allocation. Their supply is to be cut to around 65 per cent of the past six-month level, subject to operational feasibility. Petrochemical units are also facing a reduction.
The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas separately said oil refineries had been directed to raise LPG output and route the extra production for domestic use. It also announced a 25-day gap between two LPG bookings to check hoarding and black marketing.
Also Read: US-Israel-Iran war LIVE Updates
The government’s line is that domestic consumers will remain protected. ANI sources said supply to piped gas in homes and CNG for vehicles is fully assured.
At the same time, the squeeze is being felt elsewhere. Commercial LPG supply has already been halted in some places. In Bhopal, commercial cylinders were stopped, though hospitals and educational institutions were kept out of the restriction, ANI reported.
RK Gupta, National Vice-President of the LPG Association, said domestic LPG supply was not short, but the booking gap had been increased from 21 days to 25 days. He also said commercial cylinders had not been issued since the previous day, barring exempted categories.
The change has led to anxiety on the ground. ANI reported long queues at gas agencies in Bhopal, with some consumers saying they could not get cylinders despite having slips. One consumer said she had taken leave from work to collect a cylinder but still returned without one.
Traders also flagged trouble. A shopkeeper told the news agency that businesses were under strain as commercial stock was down to one or two days.
The curbs quickly turned political. AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal claimed on X that LPG supply to most commercial establishments across the country had been stopped, except for educational institutions and hospitals. He also alleged that the situation around gas and oil could worsen in the coming days.
In Karnataka, Minister Priyank Kharge attacked the Centre over the shortage of natural gas and questioned whether the government had failed to anticipate disruption in supply routes through West Asia. Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar also targeted the Centre over the LPG price rise and said the issue should be discussed in Parliament.
The government, however, has framed the order as a supply management step during a period of global uncertainty. All producers, importers, transporters, marketers and distributors of natural gas, LNG and regasified LNG have been asked to share details on output, imports, stocks, supply and consumption with the Centre.
With the conflict continuing to disrupt energy flows, the latest order shows that New Delhi is trying to ring-fence household use first, even if that means industry and commercial users take the hit.
Advertisement
