West Asia crisis: Odisha on alert, Centre assures fuel and gas supply

Odisha CM Mohan Majhi directs officials to ensure an uninterrupted supply of essentials amid the West Asia conflict. The Union government confirms sufficient fuel and gas reserves, with normal operations and measures to curb panic buying.

Odisha Govt Ensures Essential Supplies

Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Majhi held a virtual meeting with District Collectors on Monday to ensure an uninterrupted supply of essential commodities amid the West Asia conflict. The Chief Minister directed enforcement squads to remain on 24x7 action mode, monitor markets, act against hoarders and rumour-mongers, and maintain team spirit for coordinated crisis management, according to the CMO.

Centre Assures Sufficient Fuel, Gas Reserves

Earlier in the day, the Union government announced that a 100 per cent supply of natural gas is being maintained for domestic consumers and CNG transport, noting that approximately 95 per cent of LPG bookings were done online yesterday.

Speaking at a joint inter-ministerial briefing, Sujata Sharma, Joint Secretary (Marketing and Oil Refinery) at the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, stated that the country possesses sufficient fuel reserves to meet current demand. "Our refineries are in normal operation, and crude inventories are adequate. Some retail outlets are in normal operation, but panic buying is also observed in some retail outlets. In this regard, I would like to tell the people of the country that petrol and diesel are available in sufficient quantities with us," Sharma said.

Measures to Ensure Domestic Stability

She explained that the government took several steps to ensure domestic stability, including the reduction of excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 10 and the imposition of export taxes to maintain the availability of diesel and Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) in the local market.

PNG Network Expansion

The Joint Secretary detailed the expansion of the Piped Natural Gas (PNG) network, noting that several central ministries, including the Ministry of Defence, issued orders to support expansion in residential areas and unit lines. She added that the government issued a gazette notification on March 24 to expedite last-mile connectivity.

LPG Supply and Distribution Status

Regarding the status of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), Sharma confirmed there is no "dry out" at any distributor. "In the past two days, about 1.4 crore bookings have been made, of which 92 lakh cylinders have also been delivered. As you know, the commercial LPG has been distributed by the Indian government. The Indian government has increased the availability of commercial LPG by about 70% and has talked about prioritising Dhaba, Restaurants, Industrial Canteens and Migrant Labour. I would like to tell you that after the issue of this order in the last week, about 2,60,000 FTL (Free Trade LPG) cylinders of 5 kg have been sold," she said. (ANI)

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