The disruption in the supply of LPG cylinders due to the ongoing West Asia crisis has led to shortages for commercial and industrial consumers in Himachal Pradesh. However, officials from Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) said on Thursday that the supply of domestic LPG cylinders remains unaffected in the state.
As per the officials, the available stock of commercial cylinders with dealers is currently being supplied to priority sectors such as hospitals and educational institutions.
“There is no shortage of domestic LPG cylinders in the state and regular supply is continuing,” said Mohammad Amid, Divisional LPG Sales Head at Indian Oil Corporation. He added that commercial consumers are facing shortages, but priority sectors like hospitals and educational institutions are being supplied from the stock available with dealers.
On being asked how long the shortage of commercial cylinders may continue, Amid said the Ministry of Petroleum is holding a high-level meeting. The meeting aims to assess the demand for commercial cylinders from different sectors and regulate the supply accordingly. He added that there are around 55,000 commercial LPG connections in the state.
Amid further said that the supply of domestic LPG cylinders from bottling plants in Baddi, Una and Jalandhar is continuing as usual. All 155 distributors in the state currently have sufficient stock of domestic cylinders. “We appeal to domestic consumers not to panic and avoid unnecessary refill bookings,” the official said.
Amid also said that 19 kg commercial cylinders are being supplied to hospitals and educational institutions. However, the supply of larger commercial cylinders, including 47 kg and 425 kg cylinders used by industries, has been disrupted.
Considering the demand from the tourism sector, distributors have been asked to provide 19 kg commercial cylinders from the available stock of around 12,000 cylinders, he added. He also suggested that hotel and restaurant owners could take domestic LPG connections in their own name to meet the cooking needs of their staff.
Meanwhile, distributors said they have been receiving a large number of calls from customers for LPG cylinder bookings. However, there has been no supply of commercial cylinders for the past three days, said Sabir, an employee of a gas company.
An owner of a gas agency in Shimla said that bottling of commercial cylinders has stopped in view of the ongoing war in West Asia.
Arun Bhatia, a restaurant owner from Panthaghati, said the disruption in the supply of commercial cylinders has created an acute shortage. He said this has severely affected restaurant businesses. Bhatia appealed to the government to ensure a proper balance between the supply of commercial and domestic LPG cylinders.
Shyam Sharma, manager of Shere-Punjab Dhaba, said the situation is becoming difficult as commercial cylinders have not been supplied for the past three days. “Tourists are coming and our staff also need food, so we are facing serious problems. If the situation does not improve in the coming days, dhabas may be forced to shut down,” he added.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, Chief Secretary Sanjay Gupta said presently, Himachal Pradesh has sufficient stock of petrol, diesel and domestic cooking gas. He said there is no need for the public to panic. He added that around 15,000 commercial LPG cylinders are currently available in the state and are being supplied to hotels, restaurants and other institutions as required.
Earlier, the Federation of Himachal Hotels and Restaurant Association (FOHHRA) had requested the Centre to take immediate steps to ensure adequate and uninterrupted supply of commercial LPG cylinders across the country, especially in tourism-dependent states such as Himachal Pradesh.
Also read: LPG crisis hits Punjab, long queues outside gas agencies
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