The government has stated that domestic LPG cylinder deliveries remain normal, with over 5.15 million cylinders delivered yesterday. In a statement, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas said that enforcement actions continue across the country to curb hoarding and black marketing of LPG. More than 3,400 raids were conducted across the country yesterday.
PSU oil marketing companies have strengthened surprise inspections and imposed penalties on 214 LPG distributorships and suspended 55 distributorships. Approximately 1.5 million 5 kg Free Trade LPG cylinders were sold across the country, compared to an average of 77,000 per day in February.
Since March 23, more than 12.5 million 5-kg Free Trade LPG cylinders have been sold to students and vulnerable communities, including migrant laborers.
Based on available inventory and scheduled LNG cargo arrivals, the overall gas allocation to fertilizer plants is being further enhanced by 5% to reach approximately 95% of their six-month average consumption. Since March, about 4.15 lakh PNG connections have been gasified, and about 4.55 lakh additional customers have registered for new connections. To date, more than 26,000 PNG consumers have surrendered their LPG connections via the MYPNGD.in website.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways has put in place necessary measures to safeguard Indian vessels and seafarers operating in the West Asia region. All Indian seafarers in the region are safe, and no incident involving Indian-flagged vessels has been reported in the past 24 hours. The India-flagged LPG vessel Jag Vikram safely crossed the Strait of Hormuz today.
The vessel is carrying approximately 20,400 MT of LPG cargo with 24 seafarers onboard. It is expected to arrive at Mumbai on April 15.
Across the region, Indian Missions and Posts remain in close contact with the Indian community while continuing to provide assistance and issue necessary advisories for their safety and well-being. Flights continue to operate from countries where airspace remains open. Since February 28, around 8.71 million passengers have travelled from the region to India.
The Embassy of India in Tehran has so far facilitated the movement of 2,225 Indian nationals from Iran to Armenia and Azerbaijan for onward travel to India. These include 981 Indian students and 662 Indian fishermen.