2,500 raids, 2,000 cylinders seized & 500 notices: Inside India's crackdown on LPG misuse amid Middle East conflict

Enforcement efforts over the past 24 hours resulted in nearly 2,500 raids under the Enforcement Act, leading to the seizure of 2,000 cylinders, according to the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas amid the Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) shortage concerns triggered by the ongoing Middle East conflict. It added that PSU Oil Marketing Companies (OMC) issued over 500 show-cause notices after conducting surprise inspections.

It informed that all states and UTs except Delhi have established control rooms to tackle LPG black marketing and hoarding.

“More than 2,500 raids were conducted across States/UTs in the past 24 hours, with over 2,000 cylinders seized. Enforcement efforts need to be strengthened in certain States/UTs including Bihar, Jharkhand, Keralam and some North-Eastern States,” the ministry said.

It added, “PSU OMCs officials are also conducting surprise inspections at RO and LPG distributorships on daily basis across the country to ensure smooth supplies and to check any hoardings/black marketing cases. PSU OMCs have issued more than 500 show cause notices to LPG distributorships till date.”

The ministry mentioned that natural gas supply is being fully maintained for domestic users and CNG transport, and noted that around 95% of LPG bookings were made online the previous day. She also said the government has taken multiple measures to ensure stability, including cutting excise duty on petrol and diesel by ₹10 and imposing export taxes to safeguard domestic availability of diesel and Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF).

She highlighted the expansion of the Piped Natural Gas (PNG) network, mentioning that several central ministries, including the Ministry of Defence, have issued directives to support its rollout in residential areas and unit lines.

“In the past two days, about 1.4 crore bookings have been made, of which 92 lakh cylinders have also been delivered. As you know, the commercial LPG has been distributed by the Indian government. The Indian government has increased the availability of commercial LPG by about 70% and has talked about prioritising Dhaba, Restaurants, Industrial Canteens and Migrant Labour," ANI quoted Sharma as saying.

She further said, "I would like to tell you that after the issue of this order in the last week, about 2,60,000 FTL (Free Trade LPG) cylinders of 5 kg have been sold.”

The government also announced the allocation of 48,000 additional kerosene units for quarterly distribution, backed by a budget notification on March 29 aimed at assisting states that had earlier declared themselves kerosene-free.