Middle East crisis: 58,500 LPG connections surrendered for PNG, 96% deliveries now authenticated

The Centre on Thursday assured the people on the situation in the country amid the evolving situation in Middle East. In an inter ministerial briefing, it said LPG deliveries across the country remain stable amid the, with Delivery Authentication Code (DAC)-based deliveries rising to nearly 96 per cent to curb diversion and black marketing.Officials from the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas said online LPG bookings have touched nearly 99 per cent on an industry basis, while no dry-outs have been reported at distributorships. Over the last three days, around 1.34 crore LPG cylinders were delivered against bookings of nearly 1.32 crore cylinders.The government also urged citizens to avoid panic buying, saying adequate stocks of petrol, diesel and LPG are available across the country.The government said over 58,500 consumers have surrendered LPG connections through the MYPNGD.in portal till May 20, while around 7.64 lakh PNG connections have been gasified since March 2026. Infrastructure for an additional 2.81 lakh PNG connections has also been created, officials said.The Centre added that 22 States and Union Territories are receiving additional commercial LPG allocations linked to PNG expansion reforms. City gas distribution entities have also been asked to prioritise PNG connections for hotels, restaurants and other commercial establishments.Citizens were urged to avoid panic buying of petrol, diesel and LPG, rely only on official information, and conserve energy wherever possible. Consumers were also encouraged to use alternate fuels such as PNG and electric or induction cooktops.The government said more than 5,000 raids have been conducted across the country over the last three days against hoarding and black marketing. PSU oil marketing companies also carried out surprise inspections at more than 3,100 petrol pumps and LPG distributorships.Penalties have been imposed on 463 LPG distributorships, while 81 distributorships have been suspended so far.Officials further said all refineries are operating at high capacity with adequate crude inventories, while sufficient stocks of petrol and diesel are being maintained across the country. The Centre also announced that excise duty on petrol and diesel has been reduced by Rs 10 per litre to shield consumers from the impact of rising crude prices amid the Middle East crisis.The Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways said all Indian seafarers in the Gulf region are safe and no incident involving Indian vessels has been reported in the last 72 hours.Officials said more than 3,316 Indian seafarers have been repatriated so far from the Gulf region, including 99 in the last 72 hours. Port operations across the country continue normally with no congestion reported.