Govt reduces booking interval for LPG refill from 45 to 25 days for rural areas | India News

The Centre announced on Monday that the booking interval for LPG refills will remain the same in both urban and rural areas. As announced by Minister of State Suresh Gopi, the booking interval in rural areas has also been reduced from 45 days to 25 days.Gopi, who is the Union Minister of State for Petroleum, Natural Gas and Tourism, stated that, due to pressure on LPG supply amid the ongoing war between the United States and Iran, which has resulted in a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, the refill booking interval was 25 days in urban areas and 45 days in rural areas."However, in view of the current LPG supply situation improving and the significant reduction in refill backlog, the central government has relaxed this restriction. Now, all domestic LPG consumers, regardless of urban or rural, can book refills at an interval of 25 days," he wrote further in a Facebook post.The minister, in his post, also shared a copy of the letter issued by the Petroleum Ministry to the OMCs, directing them to implement the change immediately.Earlier in June, India withdrew its restrictions on commercial LPG supply. As per a notice by the petroleum ministry, Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) were told to supply non-domestic packed LPG at normal levels as seen before the war.The government also relaxed LPG supply restrictions, which allowed the supply of up to 50 per cent of pre-crisis consumption levels to ensure smoother operations across industries.US-Iran war impact on LPGFollowing the breakout of the US-Israeli war on Iran in February and the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, the Centre imposed restrictions under the Essential Commodities Act to ensure there was no shortage in the nation due to the disruption of the global oil and energy supply chain.Under this, the government also ensured that certain gases, such as C3 and C4, were used only for LPG, to prevent shortages.The supply disruption also led to higher LPG prices in India. In March, the price of a domestic LPG cylinder was raised by ₹60 after global energy prices surged following the conflict. It was increased again by ₹29 in June, taking the price of a 14.2-kg household LPG cylinder in Delhi to ₹942.