Amaravati, Mar 14 (PTI) Andhra Pradesh Finance Minister P Keshav on Saturday urged people not to panic over the availability of cooking gas, assuring that both the central and state governments are taking steps to ensure there is no inconvenience to people.
Keshav said the Group of Ministers (GoM) tasked to deal with the Liquefied Petroleum Gas situation is continuously monitoring the supply scenario.
“There is no need for people to panic about cooking gas as the central and state governments are taking measures to avoid inconvenience for them,” he said in an official press release.
On Saturday, Keshav, Agriculture Minister K Atchannaidu and executives from Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) met officials of the Civil Supplies Department, including police, vigilance and others.
During the meeting, they reviewed the daily requirement for cooking gas, its supply position, current situation and future course of action, said the press release.
The ministers have decided to move ahead with a strong action plan based on real-data analysis.
Appealing to people not to fall for rumours, Keshav and Atchannaidu said the Centre has ordered refineries across the country to ramp up gas production by reducing output of other petroleum products, which could lead to an increase of 20 percent in gas production.
Further, they said priority is being given to supply of cooking gas to households while hospitals and hostels are also being prioritised.
According to the Ministers, the Centre imposed some restrictions on booking gas cylinders. Under the new norms, refilling can be booked only after 25 days in cities and 45 days in rural areas, while consumers with double cylinders have to wait for 32 days.
Further, they warned of stringent action against those involved in black marketing of cooking gas cylinder.
The government has already held meetings with hotel and gas dealers’ associations.
Noting that 95 percent gas bookings are made online, the ministers said 88 percent of gas deliveries are completed using OTP (one time password).
They called for increasing this percentage.
As an alternative, the southern state is also exploring the use of piped gas to ease pressure on LPG supply, the press release added.
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