The panel of oil marketing company (OMC) executives set up by the petroleum ministry to review the commercial LPG supply crunch held its first meeting with restaurant industry associations on Wednesday, with the two sides discussing a partial restoration of normal commercial supply, two people with knowledge of the discussions told FE.
“We requested them to start supplies up to 50%. In principle, they said they can look at it and propose to the government, maybe 30-50%,” a person present in the discussions said. However, consumption tracking is a key hurdle. “Unlike household LPG consumption, which is easily tracked through per-cylinder booking data, commercial usage is harder to monitor, and a partial restoration could lead to hoarding and black marketing,” another person part of the discussions added.
Navigating the Supply Squeeze
The associations are now working to propose a tracking mechanism using distributor-level data to account for commercial consumption and prevent diversion, the person said. No formal decision has been taken yet and commercial supply remains halted.
Government Response
The petroleum ministry constituted the panel — comprising three executive directors of OMCs — earlier this week after restaurant bodies warned that the halt in commercial LPG supply could force thousands of establishments to shut. The ministry has also directed refineries to maximise LPG output by curtailing petrochemical streams and extended the domestic LPG refill booking cycle to 25 days from 21 to prevent hoarding.