In a bid to rapidly expand piped natural gas (PNG) access and coverage amid the shortage of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) due to the West Asia conflict, the Centre has written to states to expedite approvals to city gas distribution (CGD) firms for laying pipelines. This comes amid the Centre’s appeal to LPG consumers—commercial users as well as households—to shift to PNG, wherever feasible, to take some pressure off of LPG supplies. The government has also advised consumers to use alternative kitchen equipment like electricity-powered induction cooktops if possible, and use LPG efficiently, even as oil marketing companies (OMCs) continue to maintain LPG supplies to households at regular levels amid the concerning situation.With the effective halt in maritime traffic through the critical chokepoint of the Strait of Hormuz, India’s LPG supplies have been majorly hit. The country depends on imports to meet 60% of its LPG needs, and 90% of those flow through the Strait of Hormuz—the narrow maritime passage between Iran and Oman that connects the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman. This effectively means that roughly 55% of India’s LPG consumption volumes are currently unavailable. While the government has prioritised LPG supplies to households, commercial and industrial users are facing severe shortages of the fuel.According to Petroleum Ministry Joint Secretary Sujata Sharma, the government on Monday wrote to states and union territories with some requests to help expedite city gas infrastructure expansion, which would help give the choice of shifting to PNG to more consumers. The requests include issuance of deemed permission for pending applications for laying CGD pipelines, approval of all new CGD permissions within 24 hours, full waiver on road restoration and permission charges levied by state and local authorities, relaxations in working hours and working season rules, and appointment of nodal officers for support, coordination, and faster rollout.While natural gas supplies to India have also been hit due to the Strait of Hormuz’s closure, the situation is not as concerning as in the case of LPG. India depends on imports to meet roughly half of its natural gas needs, with 55-60% of the imports coming through the Strait. Over the past few days, the government has been appealing to consumers to switch to PNG if it is available in their vicinity. Some CGD companies have also announced incentives like some volumes of free gas and waiver of connection charges to encourage consumers to sign up for PNG connections.The Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) has also advised CGD companies to deploy additional resources and step up outreach to provide connections quickly to consumers wherever networks are available. According to the government’s estimates, there are roughly 60 lakh households that are in the vicinity of PNG coverage, and can quickly switch to piped gas connections. As against 33.3 crore households with LPG connections, the number for PNG connections stands at around 1.5 crore. But while LPG is supplied in portable cylinders, PNG requires pipeline connectivity at the doorstep.According to Sharma, there has been a reduction in panic booking of LPG cylinders by households—from the peak of 88.8 lakh bookings on March 13, the bookings fell to around 70 lakh on March 16 (Monday)—although the number is still significantly higher than the April-February average of 55.7 lakh cylinder a day. She said that the OMCs are maintaining regular LPG cylinder supplies at pre-war levels of 50 lakh cylinders a day, with the numbers breaching the 60-lakh mark on a few days recently. She also informed reporters that despite the high demand and worrying supply situation, no dry-out has been reported at any of the 2,500-odd LPG dealerships across the country. She said that the situation with regard to LPG, while being a matter of concern, has not worsened.Apart from prioritising LPG supplies to households over commercial and industrial consumers, the government ordered refiners to maximise LPG production, and directed them to divert propane, butane, and other streams from petrochemical manufacturing to LPG production. According to Sharma, these measures have led to an increase of 38% in domestic LPG production vis-à-vis pre-West Asia conflict levels, and a further increase is likely over the next few days. The government has also increased waiting times between cylinder bookings by households from 21 days to 25 days in urban areas and 45 days in rural areas to check hoarding behaviour and manage demand and supply. The government has also activated alternative fuel streams like kerosene, fuel oil, biomass, and even coal for commercial consumers to help them cover their LPG shortfall.Story continues below this adRegarding action against hoarding and black marketing of LPG, authorities have stepped up raids and surprise checks, Sharma said. More than 12,000 raids have been conducted and over 15,000 cylinders seized, with major actions reported in Delhi, Goa, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh, she said. At their level, the OMCs have conducted over 2,500 surprise inspections at retail outlets and LPG distributorships to ensure smooth supply and prevent irregularities.