Govt strengthening fuel security, working on 30-day LPG strategic reserve

The government is working on strengthening fuel security via strategic reserves, aiming for a 30-day LPG stock. Despite sufficient supply and refineries at optimum levels, abnormal sales have led to raids on hoarders, says the government.

The government is working to strengthen fuel security through strategic reserves and ensuring uninterrupted supply, even as steps continue to be taken against hoarding, Sujata Sharma, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, said during an inter-ministerial briefing.

Govt working on fuel security, strategic reserves

"Regarding strategic reserves, we are working on the strategic reserves also. And we have asked the oil marketing companies to work out that the LPG reserve that should be minimum 30 days with them and they are working on it. And similarly, for crude also, we are working," Sharma said, outlining the precautionary measures to safeguard against supply shocks.

No shortage, but abnormal sales reported

She assured that there is no shortage at present. "We have sufficient stock of petrol, diesel and LPG, natural gas and fruit inventories are tied up. All our refineries are operating at optimum level and LPG production is all time high, almost 90 DMT per day. No dry out has been reported on LPG distributorship," Sharma said.

"But it is being seen on retail outlets that there is abnormal sale at many places. Some are due to agricultural demand and some are due to bulk sale," she added. More than 30% growth is being seen overall, with 14 districts reporting over 100% growth in petrol sales, while six districts saw a 38% drop in OMC sales.

Raids conducted to check hoarding

Sharma said that to check diversion, enforcement has been intensified. "In the last four days, there have been 6,500 raids on LPG. Five FIRs have been registered and two people have been arrested," Sharma said.

At retail outlets, 900 raids in two days led to seizure of 417 litres of petrol and 75,715 litres of diesel, with 12 FIRs and 15 arrests.

LPG Availability and Production

On LPG availability, she explained that production varies with refinery optimization. "Right now, the demand is something around 72 TMT and then we are producing 50 to 52 TMT in-house in our domestic refineries," she said, adding that the LPG backlog has come down to 4.5 days.

Efforts to stabilise prices

Sharma said the government has cut excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 10 per litre, costing Rs 14,000 crore per month, to keep prices stable. "So these all efforts have been done to keep the price stable," she said, even as OMCs continue to face daily loss of Rs 550 crore.

"The government is trying to ensure the availability and delivery of LPG cylinders to all homes... and availability of petrol and diesel to all petrol and diesel pumps. So, do not pay attention to rumors and try to save energy in your daily use."

She also urged bulk and industrial consumers to buy diesel only from authorized procurement channels. (ANI)

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