Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: With LPG availability remaining critical, oil marketing companies may resort to delivering underweight cylinders for more equitable distribution of cooking gas.While petroleum ministry officials dismissed reports suggesting OMCs may start selling 10 kg gas in 14.2 kg domestic LPG cylinders, calling them “highly speculative”, refiners confirmed such a proposal was pending before govt. “This is indeed being considered, but the decision has to be taken by the govt,” said an official of a state-run OMC.Sujata Sharma, joint secretary in ministry of petroleum and gas, however, termed it a rumour. “There cannot be any comment or explanation to any speculation… please don’t believe in rumours. This is highly speculative,” she said.She said that bookings for refilling domestic cylinders had eased to nearly 50 lakh, while supply continued as normal. With refiners increasing LPG output, Sharma said 50-60% of demand was now being met through domestic production, up from 40% earlier.The conflict in West Asia, disrupting traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, has impacted oil and gas imports, forcing the govt to prioritise domestic sectors while curtailing supplies to commercial users.There are 33.2 crore LPG connections. Nearly two lakh consumers have switched to piped gas in last 10 days, while 3.5 lakh PNG connections have been issued. Sharma dismissed fuel dry-out reports, saying supplies remained normal.
