New Delhi, May 21 (IANS) More than 58,500 PNG consumers have surrendered their LPG connections till May 20, the government said on Thursday, adding that there are adequate stocks of petrol and diesel available at all petrol pumps in the country.

The government advised citizens to avoid panic purchase of petrol, diesel and LPG as it is making all efforts to ensure availability of petrol, diesel and LPG.

“Beware of rumours and rely on official sources for correct information,” said the government during the regular briefing.

Online LPG cylinder bookings increased to about 99 per cent on an industry basis on May 20.

“The Delivery Authentication Code (DAC) based deliveries have increased to about 96 per cent to prevent diversion. DAC is received on the registered mobile number of the consumer. During the last three days, about 1.34 crore LPG cylinders were delivered against bookings of around 1.32 crore LPG cylinders,” said Petroleum Ministry.

On Wednesday, about 47.51 lakh LPG cylinders were delivered against bookings of around 45.36 lakh LPG cylinders.

The ministry further stated that during the last three days, about 1.87 lakh 5-kg FTL cylinders were sold.

Moreover, since March, about 7.64 lakh PNG connections have been gasified and infrastructure has been created for additional 2.81 lakh connections, taking the total to 10.45 lakh connections.

Further, about 7.99 lakh customers registered for new connections.

The Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways provided an update on the prevailing maritime situation in the Persian Gulf, detailing the measures being undertaken to ensure the safety and security of Indian vessels and crew in the region. It was stated that:

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways said it continues to coordinate with the Ministry of External Affairs, Indian Missions, and maritime stakeholders to ensure seafarer welfare and uninterrupted maritime operations.

“All Indian seafarers in the region are safe, and no incident involving Indian-flagged vessels or foreign vessels with Indian crew has been reported in the past 72 hours,” it informed.

The ministry, through the Directorate General of Shipping (DG Shipping), has facilitated the safe repatriation of more than 3,316 Indian seafarers so far, including 99 in the last 72 hours from various locations across the Gulf region.

–IANS

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