Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday, March 10, held a meeting with some of his ministers and asked them to make sure Indian consumers do not suffer due to the impact of the conflict between United States-Israel and Iran on the supply and price of petroleum products, news agency quoted PTI as saying.
Amid rising tensions in West Asia following US and Israeli strikes on Iran, oil prices have jumped significantly, fueling concerns of potential shortages of petroleum products, including Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), in India.
The sources said that Prime Minister Modi has been proactive in ensuring that Indian consumers do not face the brunt of higher petroleum prices, as India is a net importer of crude oil and natural gas.
The sources reportedly also quote the prime minister as telling the ministers to work in coordination and ensure that there is no shortage of petroleum products and LPG.
Who did the prime minister meet?
According to the reports, PM Narendra Modi met External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar, Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal. During the meeting with the Union minister, PM Modi discussed the energy situation in the country.
The sources said India, which sources a lot of its energy products from West Asia, has now diversified its procurement from other countries as well and is sourcing them from the US, Russia, Venezuela, Australia and other Oceanic countries.
Amid the West Asia crisis, India has announced that LPG, CNG, and piped cooking gas will be given priority over all other natural gas users, as the government adjusts allocations to ensure uninterrupted supply for households and the transport sector.
The West Asia conflict which has widened to cover as many as seven more countries in the Middle East, as much as 30 per cent of India’s gas supply has been disrupted. Due to this, the oil ministry ordered, in a gazette notification, that available gas be diverted from non-priority sectors to key users.
India meets half of its 191 million standard cubic meters per day (mmscmd) of gas consumption through imports. With the stalling of tanker movement through the Strait of Hormuz, about 60 mmscmd gas from the Middle East has been disrupted.
The remaining liquefied natural gas (LNG) has been reprioritised to meet 100 per cent of the demand of LPG production, CNG and piped cooking gas (PNG), 80 per cent of commercial users of the fuel and 70 per cent of fertiliser unit needs.
(With inputs from agencies)
