As the American-Israeli war on Iran has caused an LPG crisis across the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has held a review meeting with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Union Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri.
As the American-Israeli war on Iran has caused an LPG crisis across the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday held a meeting with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Union Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri to review the situation, according to CNN-News 18.
Separately, Modi also discussed the situation in the Cabinet meeting in which he instructed the ministers to reach out to the public.
Sources told News 18 India that Modi told ministers to maintain the public’s trust in times of global instability.
The prime minister instructed ministers to convey to the public that oil prices remain stable in the country and stocks are adequate, according to sources.
They further said that the prime minister told ministers to convey to the public India’s preparations regarding supply chains to handle the crisis.
Amid the spiralling war in West Asia, suppliers have cut production and tanker traffic has stalled in the Strait of Hormuz. As a result,
oil and gas prices have risen sharply as global supply has been choked — around 20-25 per cent of the world’s seaborne oil and gas passes through the region.
India and its Asian peers have been particularly affected from the choking of the Strait of Hormuz as most of the gas to the region comes from that route.
For context, around 80 per cent of gas exports from the Strait of Hormuz —including Qatar’s exports that accounts for world’s 20 per cent gas exports— go to Asian countries. Around 90 per cent of India’s LPG imports come from the waterway.
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To address the crisis, the Government of India has invoked the Essential Commodities Act (ECA) and rationed gas for priority areas. However,
the measure has rattled the industrial class, particularly the hospitality sector, that has reported shortages across major cities like Mumbai, Chennai, and Bengaluru.
Gas to be rationed under ECA
The Centre has announced that domestic piped natural gas (PNG) and compressed natural gas (CNG) for transport will receive 100 per cent assured supply whereas other sectors will be subject to caps based on their average consumption over the past six months, according to a government notification.
As per the notification, fertiliser plants shall get 70 per cent gas of the average of their past six months’ consumption and the tea industry, manufacturing, and industrial consumers connected through the natural gas grid shall get 80 per cent of the past six months’ average gas consumption.
The notification also said that All City Gas Distribution entities shall ensure that industrial and commercial consumers supplied through their networks receive 80 per cent of their past six months’ average gas consumption.
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