Commercial cylinder supply hit in Mumbai, say dealers; no LPG crunch: Companies

Mumbai: A shortage of LPG cooking gas has reportedly erupted in parts of the city and MMR as a ripple effect of the Middle East conflict. Shortage of arrivals has caused a delay of two to three days after booking a domestic refill cylinder."Moreover, a new notification from the Union ministry of petroleum stipulates domestic consumers can book a new refill only 25 days after receiving one cylinder," said a suburban dealer. "It is not like last week when you could book the next refill within a day or two."Gas agencies claim the supply of commercial cylinders used by hotels and restaurants has ground to a halt. "At least the domestic 14.2 kg cylinder is available. But the supply of commercial gas cylinders has completed halted since Sunday. This will lead to a crisis for roadside stalls and restaurants," said an owner. "They may be forced to buy domestic cylinders from the black market. This is illegal and dangerous."A dealer from Kurla said hotels would also find it difficult to buy domestic cylinders in errant ways, given that despatch is now OTP-based. Oil marketing company sources claimed there was no shortage of domestic LPG supply. An SMS was sent to BPCL customers on Monday evening saying: "Claims of shortage in fuel supply are misleading and baseless. There is adequate availability of fuel in the country...." An oil company source, though, said there were "restrictions" on distributing commercial cylinders. They declined to specify the restrictions.Meanwhile, dealers sent TOI videos from Uran of trucks with empty cylinders waiting in 1km queues for refills. "Mumbai dealers are being diverted to Uran saying they can refill empty cylinders there. But Uran staff has reportedly received 'verbal instructions' from authorities in New Delhi to not undertake commercial refills," said one owner.Commercial users buy cylinders ranging from 5 kg to the most common 19 kg, then 47 kg. "Eateries and roadside stalls could enter crisis mode. Migrant workers who rely on small 5 kg commercial cylinders, or ‘chhotu' refills as they are called, will be stranded," said an agency owner.Panic buying was visible in Andheri and Navi Mumbai with bookings having multiplied. Families that hold two cylinders rushed to dealer outlets for refills. Some contemplated carrying home a cylinder themselves. One dealer said, "I suggest the govt charge hotels a higher price if it has to, but continue providing commercial cylinders. In any case prices of both commercial as well as domestic cylinders were increased by Rs 115 and Rs 60 respectively on Sunday."Meanwhile, Mahanagar Gas Ltd which supplies piped cooking gas said, "Currently MGL continues to maintain normal CNG & PNG supplies... A majority of gas needed for CNG is domestically produced. In case gas supplies are curtailed due to LNG import, there could be some impact on supply to industrial and commercial customers. This however would be mitigated as customers have recourse to alternative fuels..." (With Somit Sen)