Two Indian liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) carriers with a combined cargo of around 94,000 tonnes have safely transited the Strait of Hormuz and are heading towards Mumbai and Mangalore, the ministry of petroleum and natural gas (MoPNG) said in a statement.

'BW TYR is proceeding towards Mumbai with an expected time of arrival on March 31, and BW ELM is en route to New Mangalore with estimated arrival date of April 1,' the ministry said in an update on maritime safety and shipping operations in the wake of the West Asia crisis.

It added that 18 Indian-flagged vessels with 485 Indian seafarers still remain in the western Persian Gulf region.

Indian vessels in Persian Gulf

The Directorate General of Shipping, in coordination with ship owners, Recruitment and Placement Services Licence (RPSL) agencies, and Indian missions, is actively monitoring the situation.

The ministry said the supply of LPG in the country is affected due to the prevailing geopolitical situation but no dry-out has been reported at LPG distributorships.

LPG supply situation in India

Online LPG cylinder bookings increased to 94 per cent on an industry basis.

The statement said the delivery of domestic LPG cylinders is normal and the government had earlier restored partial commercial LPG supply of 20 per cent for consumers.

Further, the Centre proposed on March 18 to allocate an additional 10 per cent commercial LPG to states based on ease of doing business reforms for PNG expansion.

Later, the government allowed an additional 20 per cent allocation of commercial LPG to states, taking the overall allocation to 50 per cent.

This is being given on priority to restaurants, dhabas, hotels, industrial canteens and subsidised canteens and outlets run by local bodies.

Industrial gas supply updates

The Centre extended an additional 20 per cent allocation of commercial LPG to states on March 27 for industries with priority to steel, automobile, textile, dye, chemicals and plastics.

The government had earlier prioritised 100 per cent gas supplies for domestic PNG and CNG for transport.

Supplies to industrial and commercial consumers connected on the grid are at 80 per cent of their average consumption.

'Supply to operating urea plants is now steady at around 70-75 per cent of their last six-month average consumption,' the ministry added.

'Additional LNG cargoes and regasified LNG (RLNG) are also being sourced to maintain supplies and pipeline hydraulics.

Source: Rediff

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