As the pressure on energy supplies around the world is increasing due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, the central government has come up with a temporary solution to reduce the pressure on the availability of cooking fuel in the country. Under the 60-day emergency plan announced on Monday, states and union territories will be given additional kerosene for essential household purposes, such as cooking and lighting. The decision also indicates that kerosene is being reintroduced for a short period in 21 areas where it was already phased out or declared PDS SKO-free. The purpose of this step is to ensure that households facing shortage of LPG continue to get a basic source of energy.
To facilitate this, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has permitted selected fuel stations in kerosene-free areas to stock and sell 'Superior Kerosene Oil' (SKO) for domestic use. According to the notification, a maximum of two fuel stations in each district – preferably their own outlets of public sector oil companies – will be allowed to stock up to five thousand liters of kerosene. To speed up the process, some licensing conditions for dealers and transporters have been relaxed, although security and monitoring rules will remain in place as before.
The ministry has clarified that this rule is only for kerosene which is used for cooking and lighting in homes. The decision was taken after the government sanctioned an additional 48,000 kiloliters of kerosene over and above the fixed quota for all states and union territories. The local administration has been asked to decide the places to distribute kerosene at the district level. Earlier, 17 states and union territories had received orders to distribute SKO, while Himachal Pradesh and Ladakh had said that they did not need any such quota. These include areas like Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Rajasthan.
Along with this, monitoring has been made more stringent to prevent irregularities in the energy supply chain. Authorities have raided around 2,900 places in recent days and seized around 1,000 cylinders, taking action against hoarding and black marketing. States have also been instructed to increase monitoring, hold daily meetings, refute misinformation and speed up approvals for gas-related infrastructure. The statement said that the government once again appeals to the public not to pay attention to rumours.
Amidst all this, some consumers have started abandoning the use of LPG and turning to other options. By Saturday, 6,000 'piped natural gas' (PNG) users had returned their LPG connections. Neeraj Mittal, Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, wrote on 'X' that till yesterday, 6,000 PNG users returned their LPG connections! Thank you very much to them!!
In terms of supply management, the government has given utmost importance to domestic and transport needs, and has ensured full quota for the PNG and CNG sectors. At present, industrial and commercial users are getting about 80 percent of their average consumption, while fertilizer factories are working at 70–75 percent capacity. According to a government statement, additional LNG cargo is also being arranged as part of efforts to ensure the supply of fuel and gas.
