Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday chaired a high-level meeting to take stock of the natural gas and crude oil supplies in view of the evolving West Asia situation.
Top ministers of the government attended the meeting that came as the conflict entered its fourth week.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, Power Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and other senior Cabinet ministers, including the Information and Broadcasting Minister, attended.
The high-level meeting reviewed the situation related to petroleum, crude, gas, power and fertiliser sectors.
“Focus was on ensuring uninterrupted supply, stable logistics and efficient distribution across the country,” sources said.
India has already invoked the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, to manage the production and distribution of natural gas in the wake of a crisis in the Gulf region.
India imports 65% LPG requirement, with 47% from Qatar alone where a major refinery was hit in an Iranian strike day before.
Though the crude situation has been stable with no dry-outs on retail outlets of oil marketing companies, the LOG situation is worrisome.
The government has prioritised domestic users and given states 50% of their six monthly average consumption of commercial LPG.
The government is encouraging commercial LPG users to switch to piped natural gas (PNG), with distribution firms incentivising the shift.
Additional 10 per cent allocation of commercial LPG is to be made to states that enable this switch to PNG.
