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Informist, Monday, Mar. 30, 2026

 

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--Govt: Efforts made to stabilise raw material supply for fertiliser
--CONTEXT: Govt ministries briefing media on West Asia conflict
--Govt: States told to help prevent panic buying of fertiliser
--Govt: Continue to have adequate supply of petrol, diesel, LPG
--Govt: Urge people to buy petrol, diesel as per need, avoid panic buying
--Govt: Still getting complaints of black marketing of LPG cylinders
--Govt: LPG cylinders being delivered in 4-5 days against 2 days before war
--Govt: Not sending LPG vessels back to West Asia yet for more gas

 

NEW DELHI – The government has prioritised bringing back the 18 Indian-flagged vessels carrying liquefied petroleum gas that are stuck in the Persian Gulf region and is not yet sending any back to be refilled, a senior government official told reporters at an inter-ministerial briefing Monday. Two Indian ships passed through the war-struck Strait of Hormuz last week, and two more are making their way to India, Rajesh Kumar Sinha, special secretary in the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, said.

 

There are three foreign-flagged vessels stranded in the Persian Gulf, which are also carrying LPG bound for India. In addition, there are four foreign vessels carrying crude oil destined for India and three carrying liquefied natural gas.

 

"Our first priority is to bring back Indian-flagged ships which are in the Persian Gulf, safely, for energy security," Sinha said. "We are yet to reach that stage where we start sending back ships (to refill with LPG cargo)."

 

The Strait of Hormuz has effectively been shut down by Tehran's forces after the US and Israel together started bombarding Iran on Feb. 28. The military conflict has resulted in benchmark oil prices increasing to over $110 per barrel from $74 per barrel before the war.

 

Worries of oil prices rising further increased over the weekend after the Yemen-based Iran-aligned Ansar Allah group, commonly known as the Houthis, attacked Israel. The attack by the Houthi militants has spurred concern of another shipping channel, at the mouth of the Red Sea, getting choked.

 

"Strait of Hormuz is not the only affected area," Sinha said, adding that the geography surrounding the crucial chokepoint has been designated as a "high-risk area". During normal times, insurers charge 0.4% of the value of the ship as a premium. However, it has now increased to around 0.7% or higher, Sinha said. "Even if you come out of Strait of Hormuz, even if you move towards the Gulf of Oman, hug the coast of the UAE (United Arab Emirates), even that area is HRA (high-risk area)," he said. 

 

Sujata Sharma, joint secretary in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, said panic buying of petrol and diesel is being seen at some retail outlets, and urged people to buy only as much petrol and diesel as needed and desist from panic buying as there is sufficient stock available. She underlined that oil refineries are working normally and export duty has been imposed to discourage export of diesel and aviation turbine fuel.

 

Sharma said compressed natural gas for transport is being made fully available and industries linked to the grid are also getting 80% of their total gas demand. She said state governments have a key role to play in curbing black-marketing and hoarding. "This still needs to be strengthened in some states," Sharma said. "We have requested states to set up control rooms and conduct daily press briefings on the status. Sixteen states are releasing daily press briefs." Over 2,500 raids were conducted and 2,000 hoarded LPG cylinders were seized Sunday after complaints of black-marketing and hoarding were received, she said.

 

No dry-out has been reported from any LPG distributorship, Sharma said. Over the past two days, 10.4 million LPG bookings were registered and 9.2 million cylinders were delivered, she said. However, the delivery time has increased to 4-5 days from around two days before the crisis began, she added.

 

Besides, 260,000 small LPG cylinders of 5 kg have been sold in the past one week, she said. "This figure is besides the cylinders distributed under the Ujjwala Yojana. These cylinders are meant for migrant workers who do not have regular connections," she said.

 

Aparna Sharma, additional secretary in the Department of Fertiliser, said the government has sufficient stocks of fertilisers for the upcoming kharif agricultural season, but it is encouraging the use of alternative fertilisers such as ammonium sulphate, triple super phosphate, single super phosphate, and fermented organic manure.

 

"We are in a vulnerable situation," she said. "The domestic production of urea has been affected because gas supply was cut. Now it has been increased to 80%." The additional secretary said efforts are being made to stabilise the supply of raw materials for fertilisers.

 

"We have adequate stocks," she said. "We have 18 million tonne of fertiliser now as compared to 14.7 million tonne last year." She said the expected demand for fertilisers in the upcoming kharif season is 39 million tonnes. Last year, total fertiliser sale was 36.1 million tonnes. She said states have been asked to streamline the distribution of fertilisers and help to prevent panic buying.  End

 

Reported by Anand Chandrasekar and Asim Khan

Edited by Rajeev Pai

 

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